||Devil's Advocate||Betelgeuse x Adam x Barbara

(𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱) Beyond Belief

Now Betelgeuse appeared to be hurt by what Barbara had just said, pulling a pouty face at her and the rest of the equally as angered adults of the Maitland-Deetz family as the four of them stood their ground and glared daggers at the unwelcome demon intruder that stood before them. Before now, the five of them had agreed amongst themselves to not say Betelgeuse's name on the off chance that he would eventually return (which, to be fair, they'd all guessed that was going to happen; but not in the way that it did happen). But now...

Barbara menacingly took a few furious steps towards the demon (could they still consider him to be a demon?) again, jabbing an ice cold finger into his chest area and causing him to back away from her and up against a wall.

She snapped, "now I'd appreciate if you went right back to the Netherworld, mister!"

"But... you and sexy summoned me," he whined, once again pouting at her, but that was doing nothing to get Barbara, or the rest of the family for that matter, to change their minds and allow him to stay.

"Which, I admit, was a mistake," once again snapped Barbara, now glowering at Betelgeuse and folding her arms.

"C'mon. It wasn't a mistake," he said, a smirk now appearing on his face. "I know that you and sexy and the Deetzes all want me around the house. I regret what I did before, by the way."

"I don't believe you one bit," spat Barbara.

To prove his point, an angelic halo appeared over Betelgeuse's head as his hair turned a shade of golden yellow. But Barbara, and the rest of the family, still weren't perturbed in the slightest that he was, in fact, telling the truth.

"How's that going to prove to us that you have, in fact, changed?" asked Adam sternly.

The halo disappeared as quickly as it appeared and Betelgeuse turned his attention solely over to Adam, who had his arms folded and his gaze focused directly on the demon.

"Well, I didn't kiss you and Babs upon reappearing did I?"

"Well... no... but... how's that exactly going to prove to us that you're not going to do it to us anymore?" Adam stammered, biting at his lip and keeping his pissed off, but confused gaze locked solely on Betelgeuse.

"Exactly," said the demon, going to teleport over to the couch and relax for a bit. "Unless you two do in fact want to make out with me sometimes, which, by the way, I'm totally open to do so whenever."

"No!" said Adam and Barbara almost immediately at once. "Absolutely not!"

Betelgeuse didn't seem to hear that, moving in to dip Barbara in a kiss before the female ghost pushed him off of her and backed away from him looking even angrier than she was before. And Adam had moved to stand beside his wife, holding onto her for comfort as his eyes locked on the demon. He stood with his gaze fixated on them, a smirk plastered on his face as his hair flashed between blue and pink and back to blue again.

"And that means you haven't changed," spurted out Barbara, taking a step towards the demon.

A grin flashed across Betelgeuse's face as he moved forward a little and reached out to dip Adam into a kiss, but not before Adam growled lowly and fiercely, slapped his hand away, and furiously looked into the demon's eyes.

"Get out before we make you!" he warned, his teeth grit.

"Adam, Adam, Adam... my man," Betelgeuse spoke ever so softly, winking at the male ghost.

But Adam kept his steady, yet ever so serious gaze locked and focused solely on the demon as he started circling him furiously, coming to a complete stop behind him and eventually moving to quickly draw a door to the Netherworld once Barbara had mouthed to him to do so and summoned and levitated a piece of green chalk over to him.

"So, are you changed for the better or do you want to go right back to the Netherworld, Betelgeuse?" demanded Adam.

"I- I... I," he stammered, unable to come up with an answer to Adam's question.

Charles stepped forward, his furious gaze lingering on Betelgeuse. And one could tell that there was a fire behind the living male's eyes as he spoke.

"Look! It doesn't matter whether he's changed or not. Betelgeuse, leave the house and the five of us alone! NOW!!!" barked out Charles as he narrowed his eyes, pointing a finger towards the door to the Netherworld that was recently drawn by Adam.

Betelgeuse frowned slightly. He knew when he wasn't wanted around. But one thing he wasn't sure about was whether or not he could go back to the Netherworld again after this. He figured he was most likely going to be stuck here for the time being. So, he might as well stick around... if the Maitland-Deetzes were to forgive him for his past actions.

"I SAID LEAVE NOW!" Charles snarled out in rage, his stern face, like the rest of the equally angered adults of the household, getting redder and redder the longer the demon stood there.

"Nah, I figured that I might as well stay here for now. Since I'm not exactly welcome in the Netherworld right now as it seems."

"What do you mean?" a now outraged Barbara demanded of the demon, the redness from her face disappearing as it contorted into a look of confusion as the previous feeling of anger faded just slightly.

And it seemed that the anger present on the rest of the adults' faces had also faded away slightly as they, too, stood there and stared at the demon in confusion.

Betelgeuse rubbed at the back of his head, looking nervously off to the side. "W-well, after the whole of the Netherworld found out 'bout my mom's death, they've not been as welcoming towards me per se. I can't go back there because-."

"Because..." Barbara spoke up, raising an eyebrow.

"Because once I leave the Netherworld, I'm stuck in the living world indefinitely."