Nothing's Free In Life...Or Death

Deals are fun

We begin our story with a demon walking down a street. Not just any street however, he is walking upon a street in the land of the dead; also known as the Netherworld. This also isn't just your regular ol' demon. Oh no, this is none other than Beetlejuice we're talking about. Our twice dead friend here has been feeling off for the past few weeks, for reasons he can't figure out. He also refuses to actually take time to think about what the source of his glum mood could be. Having pushed it off for far too long now, it is getting harder and harder to deny the feelings in his empty chest...

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"Ugh....there's nothing to do in this part of town. Why can't these saps learn to have a little fun in their afterlives? I mean you're DEAD do whatever the fuck you want!" That last comment got a few looks in Beetlejuice's direction, but no one dared approach him. Almost everyone down there knew what the bio-exorcist has done in the world of the living. It also didn't help that his dear beloved mother strikes fear into everyone that interacts with her. They must figure the apple doesn't fall from the tree, but that is as far from the truth as possible. Beetlejuice would know, he tried his hardest to be everything his mother is not. Tried to be exactly what she didn't want him to be, just to piss her off. It's only fair since she treated him like shit his whole life and afterlife.

Back to his current situation, Beetlejuice kicks a rock in front of his foot which just so happens to land in some poor souls empty eye socket. That earns a snicker from the ghost with the most. He sticks his hands in the pockets of his iconic striped suit jacket with a sigh. He can tell another wave of the same gross feeling is squirming its way into his mind. With another sigh, he turns down a random alley and walks a ways in to sit down, without a care if the ground beneath him is filthy.

He rests his arms on his knees and leans his head back on the wall, not really worrying about if anyone saw him. He went too far into the alley for any soul to see his saturated state of being. Beetlejuice sits there, trying not to think of anything, but unbeknownst to him his hair has changed to a deep shade of purple. He leans his head forward and in front of him is a reflective sheet of metal, which shows him what his hair is doing. All of a sudden, streaks of red start appearing in the sea of purple and beetlejuice uses both hands to take a hold of chunks of the hair that portrays his mood unwillingly. "I hate this stupid hair!!"

'Lydia liked it.'

That thought made him stop everything he was doing. Lydia. She was the closest thing to a friend he's had in a long while, though he wished it could've lasted longer. That entire situation went down like a led balloon. A led baloon on fire that landed on spikes. At least he was there to stop her from jumping off that roof. If he wasn't, how would've that entire situation gone? Would he have succeeded with his original plan of using those sexily boring maitlands to get the living to say his name? He doubts it. Lydia understood him, because like she said on the day they met, she felt invisible just like how he did. Of course, he actually was invisible, but she could see him! That had to be a sign that they were meant to be friends! But he went and fucked that up.

"Uuugghh! I hate these stupid feelings! Why can't I just rip 'em out?!" Beetlejuice then uses a hand to grab the exact spot where he died a second time by a stab wound from some of the worst art he's ever seen. "I miss those crazy breathers." He can't believe that just came out of his own mouth, but he also can't deny it. "Even though I left on seemingly good terms, there's no way that they'd want me to come back. I tried to kill them, they'd be insane if they actually let me come back. Of course...maybe Lydia would..." Beetlejuice shakes his head to try to get back to feeling himself again, but it's in vain. He knows unless he addresses these God-forsaken feelings of his he was gonna continue being like this. "I don't even know what I'm feeling! How the hell am i supposed to fix this?!"

"Guilt."

In less than a blink of an eye Beetlejuice is standing with energy gathering on his fingertips just in case. A little distance away in the alley is what appears to be an old woman in rags for clothes. "Who the hell are you?! I'm warning ya hag, don't mess with me!"

The lady comes closer, "Guilt. That's what you're experiencing." She advances still until she is in front of Beetlejuice. The old woman is quite a bit shorter than himself, so he has to turn his head down a bit to look at her. "It's none of your damn business what's goin' on in my head lady." He crosses his arms with a scowl on his face.

"That may be so, but I can offer you a way to relieve this guilt of yours." That catches his attention, but he's skeptical of her. "And just how do you know what would help in a situation you had nothing to do with?" The lady simply lookes up at him, "The tale of what you have done above is no secret Beetlejuice and you know it. Now do you wish for my help or are you satisfied with your current stance?" With a grumble Beetlejuice uncrosses his arms and puts them in his pants pockets. "Yeah alright lady. What you got?"

The old witch makes some hand movements and a second later, two necklaces appear in her hand. Both are identical and have a small hourglass on a gold chain. "This jewelery is capable of bringing back a soul from the Netherworld as long as a living being is wearing the other necklace." Beetlejuice snaps his fingers, "Ah! So Lydia can bring back her Mom! That girl wouldn't shut up about her dead mom." He goes to grab them but is stopped with a smack. He yelps and holds the hurt hand. "Bitch." He whispers under his breath.

"There are rules and limitations to this that you must heed to. The necklaces only last for 24 hours in the living person's time. Before that time has run out, the living must return to the Netherworld or else be trapped in this land for the dead forever." She finally holds her hand out for the demon to take. He snatches them quickly, "That sounds easy enough, but I'm not stupid. What do I have to do? You're not just gonna give these to me with out a price." He stuffs the jewelry in a pocket on the inside of his jacket.

"How wise of you Beetlejuice. Yes, I require from you a portion of your demonic powers not all of it and not even near half of it. Simply a small percentage of the energy you possess." The old lady already knew what his answer would be. "Oh, what the hell! I want to see Lydia again and those stupidly hot Maitlands! If this is what it takes, so be it. You've got yourself a deal ya old hag." He puts his hand out and the woman grips it with her frail hand then she promptly disappears in a puff of smoke. Beetlejuice stands there for a moment and just blinks. He pats himself down to check everything is still in there. "Welp, I don't feel any different. Maybe she messed up her own deal, heh. I guess it's time to say hello to some old friends." With that said, Beetlejuice snaps his fingers and dissappears from the alley.

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Howdy! This is my first Beetlejuice fanfiction. Sorry if our favorite demon seems OOC. I gotta get used to writing his character :) Please enjoy!!