Metronome

Stranger Beetles

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."

Stranger Beetles

"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.

Stranger Beetles

"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."

Stranger Beetles

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.

Stranger Beetles

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.

Stranger Beetles

Oooh, so maybe there's more than just the one big bad? I can get on board with that. Maybe at some point, the scientists try to travel to the Netherworld to find more demons, but they screw it up and leave a gaping portal that other creatures can just move in and out of at will. So they have several monsters to contend with

Stranger Beetles

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."

Stranger Beetles

I was thinking a more demogorgon-ish monster that just kills indiscriminately, but maybe it would look like that guy

Stranger Beetles

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."

Stranger Beetles

He's gonna have a lot of fun with them lol

Well, I'm off to bed :D