[IC] Stranger Beetles

[Metronome]

Hawkins was a sleepy town. The last traffic jam to plague the streets was the bridge accident of 1988. The last murder was a year before. The quaint town square was never bustling, and the church bells rang every Sunday. The last major scandal was the mayor cheating on his wife. Hawkins, in essence, was painfully average.

But, soon, it would be known for being both strange, and unusual.

The power company loomed over the town on it's hilltop throne, looking over it's domain with a blocky body and small windows. Brutalism at it's finest. The power company had a few too many company vans leaving in and out of it's premises, most never going to a single call. The power company had a tall, chain link fence with razor wire at the top, and high end security. The power company had a helipad, and used it frequently. The power company, you could say, was strange and unusual.

Deep within the depths of that sinister looking frame was a terrible secret. A crime against humanity, certainly. There was a room with white washed walls and one, small window. There was a cot, bolted to the floor and dressed in only a single blanket. There was a slot in the door for food to be pushed through, although it happened irregularly and sometimes even sparsely. There was a young girl, talking to no one.

There was, what other people couldn't see, a demon.

"I can't believe this shit," The green haired man snapped in a voice that sounded like it belonged to a pack a day smoker. "Fourteen hours?! I've see flies live longer than that! I've seen Kardashians stay married longer than that!" He wore a grimy, striped suit. He was stocky, his hair wild and defying gravity, his teeth a little too sharp and yellow. He had what looked suspiciously like moss growing in his hairline and on the back of his neck. "These fuckers can't pull their heads out of their asses long enough to scrape together the shit they have the audacity to call food for fourteen hours?!"

He wasn't yelling at the girl. He was more just yelling at the empty ceiling above them.

[Beetlejuice96]

The girl, Lydia by name, was sitting on the cot with her knees drawn close to her thin frame. To those who didn't know her since her capture, would have thought her eleven despite being thirteen. It was all due to the punishments of not doing a mission or simple task that their captures asked of them. She lost track of the times she went hungry but was only given enough to get by.

"Give it a rest, Beej. These assholes can't hear you anyway." She said, coming out of her now iconic catatonic like state. One bad habit she picked up was a foul mouth. With a demon that only she could see or hear as company, it would quite obvious to anyone working there where she had gotten it from. A loud growl rang out that she knew wasn't the demon before her but rather the one inside her called a stomach.

"It's probably because we fucked something up like not killing the right target or some bullshit like that. So hungry my stomach is eating itself." She grumbled.

[Metronome]

Beetlejuice paused his tirade to look at the girl. His face softened. He wasn't alive, and he never had been. Beetlejuice didn't know what it was like to go hungry; he never really felt hunger. He could eat, sure. But it was mostly out of boredom and enjoyment of doing so. God, being alive must suck.

"Aw, kid," He sat down on the cot next to her. "I would help if I could." He could conjure up food, sure, but once he was gone, so was everything he conjured, and she'd still be hungry. He hated feeling helpless. It made him anxious, sad, and most of all, angry. Movement outside the window caught his attention, and his lip curled with disgust. He hated these humans; he could kill them and not give it a single second thought. He would, if he wasn't trapped.

The slot on the door flapped open, and a tray skittered across the floor. Beetlejuice waved his hand to bring it to a stop, then floated it over to Lydia. His powers, unless summoned, weren't terribly impressive. It was after being summoned that things got real.

The tray was plastered with what looked like a turkey TV dinner that had been microwaved, thrown off a cliff, and then scraped onto a plate. At least it wasn't bugs, he guessed. He didn't know why Lyds wouldn't just give them a try. Especially the crunchy ones.

"Fucking finally," He sighed. "Well, bone apple teeth, kid."

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia looked up at the movement, going back to her emotionless gaze before the sound of food caught her attention. It looked unappetizing but she could care less right now, food was food. She chuckled a little at the demon's joke before practically wolfing the food down to the point of almost making herself sick. Once done she glared at the window, feeling eyes watching them. Or more accurately her.

"What do you fucking want from me?!" She suddenly yelled, throwing the tray at the window, smearing it with the leftover gravy as it landed with a soft thud onto the padded ground.

"Just tell us what we fucked up so we don't do it again!" She exclaimed, frustrated at their situation. She never asked for this. Feeling tears threatening to fall, she curled back up on her bed and drew her knees close for comfort.

On the other side of the window, a long, pale blonde haired person watched everything with a slightly amused smirk. They took a long drag from their cigarette before slowly exhaling, smoke curling around them. "You're right, she is fiery." They mused as they looked over at one of the main supervisors.

"What of the demon? Have you managed to capture any voice recordings while it's unsummoned?" They asked as they stared directly at said demon with equally pale, ethereal eyes hidden under their top hat.

[Metronome]

He perked up a little at her chuckle. At this point, Beetlejuice was pretty sure he existed to make this kid laugh. It was so rare, and always special. Like a zombie unicorn. Unfortunately, these days, it never lasted for long. He watched her outburst, a little proud of how much of his temper she'd gotten from him.

He frowned as she drew in on herself, and reached over to rub her back comfortingly. Some day, Beetlejuice was going to get them out of here. And hell could only help the rank pieces of shit that dared to make his kid cry.

"No," A woman wearing a labcoat answered. "As of right now, we have no way of telling when the entity is in the room."

"The entity is always in the room. Per safety protocol." A man in a plain, gray suit approached the door. He peered in the window, watching the girl with a callous expression. "We have orders to take the girl and the entity for an espionage. Ensure that she is properly restrained." He spoke to the two guards behind him.

[Beetlejuice96]

"So soon? I thought you had to wait a while after eating before going somewhere." The genderless person mused, taking another drag and blowing out smoke rings. Another mission. Bor-ing! Was that all they cared about was missions? It was just the same old rinse and repeat time after time since this project started.

"If that's all you have to offer, then I'll be taking my leave. Let me know when something actually interesting happens. Do I make myself clear, sir?" They said, glaring at the man in grey.

Lydia watched as figures moved behind the window before sighing softly. "One of these days, Beej, we're going to get the fuck out of here." She whispered so those watching them wouldn't hear.

Her head lifted upon hearing her door unlocking from the outside. They couldn't give her ten minutes to at least digest her food? She knew the routine and did it with little resistance, knowing the consequences if she did. She didn't speak, only jerked her head in a silent command for Beetlejuice to follow them to whatever transportation they were headed to.

[Metronome]

Beetlejuice floated after Lydia, arms crossed and frowning deeply the whole time. He wondered what they'd be using them for today? Assassination of an opposing country's political candidate? A grotesque act of violence in some war torn section of some unfortunate country? Or maybe they were just gathering information. He didn't mind those quite as much.

Possible his least favorite memory was the first time they had been sent out into a war zone, a demon and a literal child. He was supposed to off an entire platoon of the opposing army's guys, and while he was entirely capable of doing so, it was first time that Lydia had seen the violent capability of his powers. Suddenly, he wasn't just a fun, quirky demon best friend. Now, he was a demon, a monster full of potential for mass destruction.

She was used to it now. And he hated that, maybe even more. It was one thing to treat him like shit, but he'd never forgive these bastards for destroying the innocence of the one person who genuinely cared about him.

They were taken into a small, dark room. TV screens lined the walls, and a single table sat in the middle. The suited man motioned for Lydia to sit.

"Today, we'd like you and the entity," They refused to call him by his name, "To perform a simple espionage mission." BJ let out a breath of relief. "Now, if you could summon it."

[Beetlejuice96]

"What if he doesn't want to be summoned? Ever think of that? Maybe he has his own agenda and you asshats keep screwing it up." Lydia said, full of piss and vinegar as she folded her arms. She refused to sit, seeing it as a sign of submission to the ones who kept her there.

She did have a little point. While Beetlejuice was mostly tied to the living world because of her and mostly bored because of it, maybe he did have something better to do. "Do you own missions. I'm not his fucking secretary."

[Metronome]

While he couldn't help the feeling of pride that his kid had the cojones to stand up to this guy, he knew it wouldn't get them anywhere. The only thing that would come of it was another fourteen hours before her next meal.

"Just do it, Lyds," He said from where he stood next to her, sounding slightly defeated and worried. He didn't want to see her suffering any more than he had to. "Just get it over with."

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia looked over at him before sighing softly in defeat, knowing that he was right. It was useless trying to fight or argue with them. "Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice...Beetlejuice." She said, glaring at the man as the tv screens flickered to ear piercing static white noise as the demon was summoned.

"There. He's here. Happy now?" She snapped, still keeping her arms crossed.

[Metronome]

Beetlejuice popped into reality with an unceremonious poof. No green light, no thunder clap, no insane cackling. He saved the good shit for when he was actually happy to be summoned. Instead, he stood there, arms crossed, mirroring Lydia's unhappy expression and glare.

The suited man nodded approvingly.

"You will both be going to Russian today. We need insight on a political meeting taking place there." A couple lab techs walked in and handed Lydia a recording device, completely ignoring the green haired demon giving them death glares. "These are the coordinates." The man held out a piece of paper to Beetlejuice, who looked at, but made no motion to take it. The suited man set it down on the table instead.

"You may only take one hour. Any longer, and there will have to be consequences."

"Yeah, uh-huh, sure," Beetlejuice put a hand on Lydia's shoulder and suddenly they were gone. Just like that, the two were in Russia, at the coordinates they'd been give. "The fuckin' nerve of that guy," BJ grumbled. He looked up at the building before them. At least they were out for a little bit.

[Beetlejuice96]

"Of course he sends us to fucking Russia." Lydia said, shivering in the thin, scrub like dress that served as her clothing. No shoes, hat, coat or anything generically warm to shelter her from the cold. She rubbed her arms in a futile attempt to keep whatever body heat she had left.

"Let's just hurry up and get this over with before I become a fucking popsicle." She said, trudging through the snow towards the building. "Hopefully this place is more humane." She grumbled.

[Metronome]

Beetlejuice frowned at Lydia, who was looking pretty pitiful in that dumb hospital gown. Would it kill them to give her a coat? Some pants, maybe? He took her shoulders again, trying to shield her from a particularity nasty gust of icy wind, and sudden they were inside.

The furniture towered over them. BJ had shrunken them down so they could stay out of sight. There were several men in business attire mulling around, but his Russian wasn't the best.

"Any idea which one of these schmucks we should follow?" He asked.

[Beetlejuice96]

Having learned from previous mistakes, Lydia looked at the business men standing around and talking to each other. She had picked up a little Russian on missions and knew just enough to understand and respond in case she ever got caught. "Him." She said after a while, pointing at a gentleman who appeared to be the ultimate bigwig of the group.

"Sergei Leibovich. He's the one behind this meeting. How much do you want to bet that they're not talking about the next potluck?" She said, looking over at him.

"So, what's the plan?"

[Metronome]

"Ooo, a potluck would be great right about now..." Beetlejuice paused, then grinned at Lydia. "Just watch and learn, kid." He turned them into two flies, and flew after the man Lydia singled out when he began to walk off.

He led them to a conference room, sure enough, filled with equally business casual guys. BJ perched them on a bookshelf and got ready to settle in for the boring part. He turned them back to normal, tiny sized. "Good lookin' out Lyds. It'll be smooth sailing from here."

[Beetlejuice96]

Lydia smiled at him, taking out the recording device and hitting the button once they started talking. Knowing that Beetlejuice's Russian was a little rusty, she translated it to him through sign language; something she learned from her parents due to her mother being mute. While it reminded her of them and wishing they were still alive, it did help when she didn't want anyone but Beetlejuice to understand what she was saying. That and the first mission they went on to record something had their voices overlapping about how boring it was and smack talking their captures. Oops.

She blinked in surprise upon hearing them talk then pass around clearly classified documents. Thanks to their position, she was able to see one of the pictures inside. She gasped softly before looking over at him with wide eyes. "They're attempting to open a portal to the Netherworld!" She quickly signed.

[Metronome]

"That's stupid, why would anyone want to go to the Netherworld?" He signed back. He, for one, couldn't fathom any sort of appeal to that shithole of a place. Not only that, but these breathers didn't have a chance. Breathers couldn't enter the Netherworld; everyone knew that! Right?

He wasn't terribly worried about it. What did catch his attention was a tray of wrapped up snacks. He grinned and waved his hand, making the plate disappear and reappear in front of them, shrunken down. "Saving this for later," he signed, dumping the snacks into his jacket pocket. Next time they tried to starve his kid, he could whip these bad boy out.

[Beetlejuice96]

"They're not planning on going in; they're planning on bringing things out. Like how I summon you." Lydia signed as the men kept talking, now trying to keep up as they spoke over each other. She looked over as the plate of snacks appeared beside them, giving him a little smile of thanks. Despite being a demon that could easily dismember people, he did care for her like a big brother.

She turned her attention back to Sergei as he spoke, explaining how they were already underway in opening the portal...in Hawkins, Indiana. Her eyes widened as she translated, looking over at Beetlejuice. Were they hearing something the facility didn't want them to hear and would try covering it up or did they really have no clue? "I think we have everything. It's getting close to our time limit." She signed, her face a little pale.

[Metronome]

Beetlejuice noticed her getting a little freaked out, and tried to reassure her that what they were trying to do was impossible. As far as he knew.

When it finally came time for them to leave, he took her hand and poof'd them back to the facility. BJ took on that disapproving frown again as they were faced with the gray suited man. The techs took the recorder from Lydia.

"Fantastic," the man said, "Now, if you will, put this entity back where it belongs."

[Beetlejuice96]

"No." Lydia said softly. After what she just heard, she wanted answers from this sleaze ball and wanted them now. She didn't care if they didn't feed her again, Beej had the snacks he stuffed into his pockets she could live off of.

"They mentioned opening a portal to the Netherworld here in Hawkins. What aren't you telling us?" She asked, glaring at the Grey Man.

"Do you really think you can just get a demon and they're at your beck and call like a servant? If so, that's a fucking joke. They're a demon who doesn't give two shits about you or anything else for that matter."