AN: Think I'm going to spend a few chapters expanding upon and (hopefully) developing the relationships between Beetlejuice and the sisters, as well as Lydia with the sisters, and Lincoln's friends, so I can take some time to consider Indy Cisive's move without holding things up. Hope you enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 10
With the entire family now aware of Beetlejuice's existence, the ghost with the most was able to petition to Lincoln for a little more freedom around the house. Fortunately, after recent events, the only son among sisters was willing to give him a little more slack...provided he can behave. As tempted as BJ was to just start pranking the Louds left and right, he had a good thing going and didn't want to spoil it so quick. However, this meant the ghost was quickly getting bored. To make matters worse, the two sisters he got along with best were out of the house that day. In an attempt to find something to do that wouldn't get him sealed back in Lincoln's head, Beetlejuice floated his way down to the living room, where he found Leni and Lori glued to the tv. "Oh! Hey, Mr Beetlejuice!" Leni chirped, waving to their undead guest. Lori simply glanced over at him, then back to the tv.
"Hey you two….whatcha doing?" BJ asked, lacking his usual energy.
"We're just watching some Mall Wing Wars." Leni explained, pointing at the tv.
"...do I even want to know?"
"It's a new reality show where groups of people start up their own little stores in the mall, and try and succeed in the incredibly competitive field of mall based businesses."
"Uhhhhhhh huh…" The undead prankster said, uncertain he was quite that bored.
"It's an ok show…" Lori commented lazily. "...but it does get interesting when they bust out the sabotage."
"Sabotage, you say?" An intrigued Beetlejuice inquired, leaning over for a look at the screen. At that point, the owner of a mall pet shop had just entered a competing jogging pants store, where they proceeded to sprinkle itching powder into a couple pairs of pants. "Hehehe. Cute. They think they know pranks."
"That's so mean…." Leni said with a frown.
"I don't think so, Leni. I mean, considering 'Jogger's Dreams' released a jar of fleas into 'Furry Friends'..." Lori argued.
"They did that!? Then they were too soft!" Leni snapped, sneering at the screen.
"Whoa there! This is a side of you I haven't seen before." A surprised specter said, along with a smirk. "You should show it more often. But I agree. I personally woulda dropped a whole bag of creepy crawlies into their dressing room. Makes the punishment fit the crime, and maybe get some cute ladies to run around in their undies." BJ said with a snicker. To his surprise, Lori actually giggled a little at that.
"It would serve them right." Leni agreed, the two Loud sisters settling in to keep watching and BJ leaning against the back of the couch to watch.
"So which ones are your favorites? Everyone has favorites with these reality shows."
"I'm backing the 'Furry Friends' pet store." Leni said.
"I'm more a fan of that store owned by that couple...what was it called? Oh yeah. 'Lover's Lane', for all your romantic needs." Lori commented after taking a moment to send out some texts. "I did like that sports sock emporium too, but they were eliminated on day one. The owner had anger issues and ended up hitting a customer."
"Let me guess...it was called.." BJ started to say.
"'Sock it to 'em'." He and Lori said together, before sharing in a little laugh. Through the course of the show, they watched a smoothie store struggle against an actor playing a customer trying to pull a coupon scam on them, a music store trying to forge an alliance with a candy shop, and a perfume kiosk just get ignored by everyone. In the end, however, it was a scented candle store that was ruined, due to someone turning up the heat and melting all the candles.
"Hahahaha! Those characters are ruthless!" Beetlejuice said through his laughter by the end of it.
"If you think that was ruthless, you should have seen last season." Lori interjected with a grin. "There was an organic honey shop owner that was positively brutal. Destroyed his enemies, double crossed his friends...by the end of it, everyone, especially the fans, hated him...but he made it to the finals."
"I gotta get me some real cable in the Neitherworld." Beetlejuice said, just as the front door opened up. Leni, Lori and BJ turned their heads to see Luan enter, oddly quiet when she did so, and not looking at them.
"Hi Luan." Leni called out, causing the family joker to jump in surprise.
"Hey there, fellow prankster." BJ cheerfully greeted her.
"Oh. Hey everyone." Luan replied, somewhat flatly.
"Are you alright, Luan?" Lori asked, her big sister senses blaring like a burglar alarm in her head.
"Never better." She replied, still refusing to face them. "Why do you ask?"
"Luan...you just went two whole sentences without a joke or pun." Leni pointed out, getting kind of worried herself. "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Sniff...yes, I'm fine…" Not in the least bit convinced, Beetlejuice floated around the room for a look at her. His mouth opened in shock when he saw the nasty bruise on her cheek and her tear filled eyes.
"What in the hay!?" He exclaimed, getting buried in a bundle of straw.
"What is it, Beetlejuice?" Lori asked, rising from the couch.
"Looks like some jerk went and smacked my partner here!" Beetlejuice said as he popped out of the hay. "Who did this, Luan? Does BJ need to bust some heads!?" He inquired angrily, a pair of comically large boxing gloves appearing on his hands.
"No! No...it's nothing. Just...just a heckler…" She answered, looking away from him. A frowning Lori strolled right over to her and, gently but firmly, made her look at her.
"...that is not nothing." She said. "Come clean, Luan...what happened?"
"...I was doing a birthday party for this little girl and her friends, when her older sister joined the party...she started to mock me on stage while I tried to entertain the kids…" Luan started to explain, fighting back tears. "I tried to soldier on...but then she got the kids to start throwing stuff at me...her little sister threw a rock…"
"She what!?" Leni, Lori and BJ all shouted in outrage.
"Are you alright? Did you lose any teeth? Any bones broken?" Leni asked frantically, looking over her younger sister's face like their mother no doubt would if she knew about this.
"I'm fine...really...just sore."
"Getting hit by a rock is far from fine." Lori stated, her hands clenched into fists. "Who are these girls?" She demanded to know, but it looked like Luan wasn't about to talk. "You can either tell us, or we can check your schedule and then go hunt them down." The crying clown continued to keep quiet, so Beetlejuice took the initiative and flew up to her room, returning with her monthly planner.
"Let's see...only party she had today was at this house downtown, in the ritzy part of town." He said, handing the planner to Lori.
"...Westans. I think I know that name..." She said quietly.
"Oh! I know!" Leni piped up, raising her hand. "She's that popular girl from our school, who spreads rumors all through the school. She once said I resisted fire one time or something...didn't make a lot of sense to me." Lori's face started to turn red as she heard that.
"Leni...she wasn't saying you-never mind. Come on, Leni...we have a party to attend."
"Hold up, girls! I'm coming with!" Beetlejuice said firmly, floating around beside them.
"No you're not." Lori told him, holding out a hand to stop him. "At least, not looking like that."
"No problem." The phantom prankster starts to spin in the air, before skidding to a stop in his Betty Juice disguise. "How's that?"
"...it'll do." Lori said flatly, taking Leni by the hand and the two of them left the house, followed by Betty Juice.
The three of them pull up in front of the opulent house, much bigger and well kept compared to their house. Lori steps out of Vanzilla, glaring up at the house. "Alright, everyone. We're here to have a nice chat with Mrs Westans. Try to avoid talking with Terri...she's pure toxic." Lori briefed Leni and Betty. "And Beetlejuice...no juicing."
"Yer no fun…" BJ grumbled, but followed along. The trio ventured across the grass to the front door. They found a sign on the front door saying they were all around back. The eldest of the siblings sighed. She was hoping to avoid having to go back where the party was, but it looked like they had little to no choice. She signaled her sister and their ghostly cohort to follow her around to the back yard. The back gate was opened and they could see what looked like one heck of a party; kids were playing in the large swimming pool, on the bouncy castle, on the pony rides. It was clear the Westans were very rich. They even hired a burly security guard to stand in front of the gate.
"You have an invite?" He asked seriously, glaring at them until he took one look at Betty and quickly looked away in disgust.
"Actually, we're here to see Mrs Westans." Lori explained. "You see, our sister, Luan-"
"Wait...you're her sisters?" He asked, his face softening.
"Well, not me. My good looks come from another gene pool." Betty piped up, grinning and fluttering her eyelashes at him, which nearly made him vomit.
"She's, like, a friend of ours." Leni told him, gesturing to the goofing ghoul. "But anyway, yes. Luan is our sister."
"I see...I'm sorry 'bout what happened...but I don't think talking to Mrs Westans is gonna help…" He told them sympathetically.
"Wait...you know what happened?" Betty asked incredulously. "Then why didn't you do anything!?"
"I just guard the gate. That's all they want me to do and all they pay me to do...or I woulda hauled that brat of theirs outta there myself…" He sighed with regret and pulled out his walkie talkie. "I'll call the mother...but I'm warning you...you're wasting your time."
"We have to try. They can't be allowed to get away with that kind of stuff." Lori replied firmly. It was clear the security guy agreed with them, but still sighed as he held the radio to his mouth.
"Mrs Westans, there are some young ladies here to see you."
"I'm busy." Came a bored, haughty reply from the radio. Betty leaned over for a look inside, zeroing in on a middle aged woman with a Wilma Flintstone haircut, a trendy black and white one piece swimsuit, sun glasses and a big hat on her head. She was lounging about on a sun chair, paying no mind to the only somewhat organized chaos around her. She looked back at Lori and Leni, his nose growing like Pinocchio's.
"I understand that, ma'am, but this is important…"
"Tell them to come back tomorrow." Lacking any further patience for this nonsense, Lori moved the radio over to her.
"Ma'am, one of YOUR daughters threw a ROCK at my sister, while she was performing for the party happening on YOUR property." Lori stated in a voice of forced calm. "You have two options. Either come here to discuss this with us like civilized adults, or we come back with the police and you can discuss it with them." She released the guard's hand, who just stared at her in surprise.
"Nerves of steel, Lore." Betty commented with a grin and a thumbs up.
"Thanks Betty." Lori replied with a confident smile. "Now we just need to wait for-" She started to say when her smile completely shattered from her face. Instead of the mother, there stood a teenage girl as tall as Lori, with short red hair and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing a silver and gold bikini and had the biggest grin on her face.
"Why, if it isn't Lori Loud." She said in mock surprise. "And she brought her trained monkey as well." She added, looking to Leni. The dim witted young lady looked around, wondering where the monkey was.
"Terri…" Lori growled, glaring at the girl before her. It was then she noticed a nervous little girl standing behind the fence. Her hair was red, like her sister, and little green eyes. "I wanted to talk to your mother, not you."
"Well, too bad. Mom doesn't want to talk to you. She's a very busy woman."
"I can tell. All that laying around, not doing anything...she must be exhausted…" Betty Juice said sarcastically.
"No one asked you!" Terri snapped, looking at the dirty haired girl standing by the gate. She winced in disgust and looked back to Lori, choosing not to dignify her existence any further.
"So I guess getting the police is our only option then. Suit yourselves." Lori told her, as both a threat and a promise.
"The police? Whatever for?" She asked in the fakest innocent voice ever, before the little girl emerged from behind the wall, looking sad and scared.
"Please...don't call the police...I'm sorry I threw the-" She started to say, before Terri slapped her in the back of the head.
"Shut up, Marie." She snapped, the little girl sobbing quietly as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Hey! You shouldn't do that to your little sister!" Leni said in outrage, her hands going to her hips.
"Quiet, Leni. The grown ups are talking." The mean teen said coldly. "You know what...go ahead. Call the police. They'll just take Marie away. She threw the rock after all." She told Lori with an evil smirk. "Would you really do that to the birthday girl?" The oldest sister just leered at Terri. As much as she wanted to wipe that smirk off her face, she couldn't bring herself to do it. After all, it looked like Marie legitimately sorry for what she did, and, judging from what she's seen so far, may not have done so on her own free will. "That's what I thought. So why don't you get lost, Loud? And take the trash and the re-"
"Finish that sentence and I swear I will send you to the Neitherworld in three separate boxes!" Lori snapped, grabbing Terri by the strings of her top and glaring into her eyes. Terri immediately shut up. She had no idea what Lori was talking about, but she knew Lori had a reputation for having a short fuse. The authoritative blonde then shoved Terri back and motioned for her sister and the ghost to follow her.
"Lori...we aren't going to just let her get away with that, are we?" Leni asked, getting uncharacteristically angry. "Being so mean and terrible?"
"No, Leni. But there's very little we can do...Terri set her sister Marie up to take the fall...and while Marie does deserve to be punished for actually throwing the rock, she did try and apologize, and Terri deserves it even more." Lori explained calmly and quietly.
"Then….that's it?" Leni asked sadly.
"Oh no. Not at all." Her older sister replied, turning around with a devilish grin. "We can't fight her by ordinary means...so we'll have to fight her by extraordinary means." Her not so bright sister looked confused, but Betty was starting to grin herself.
"Are you asking….?"
"Beetlejuice, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make Terri pay for being such a...witch." Lori told him. "Feel free to give her mother what for too. If she's really going to pay no attention to her kids (not to mention the party guests), then she deserves a good juicing too."
"But what about the other kids?" The kind hearted Loud inquired. "And Marie?"
"Just leave it to me, little lady." BJ told her. "I'll need a new disguise, buuut I think I can handle it."
"Should...we say his name three times before he does this? Like Lincoln does?"
"I...don't think that's necessary." Lori said, though she was uncertain. "Besides, doesn't that only work for Lincoln and Lydia?"
"No clue, ladies...but if you wanna inspire me with a cheer…I won't argue." Beetlejuice said, hopeful.
"Oh! I'll do it!" Leni chirped, raising her hand. The goofing ghost snapped her fingers and Leni was suddenly dressed as a cheerleader, in the red and yellow Royal Woods colors. "Ahem:
Big old meanies best beware,
or you're in for a great big scare!
You should have taken up our truce.
Go get em Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" She cheered, waving her pom poms excitedly. Fortunately, there was loud music at the party and no one heard her.
"It's showtiiime!" BJ exclaimed, his eyes and body glowing as he prepared to transform.
Meanwhile, back at the party, Terri was feeling rather pleased with herself, if a little shaken by Lori's threat. She didn't let it show as she strut through the party, a few of the kids ceasing what they were doing to move out of her way. Marie just watched her from the gate, sniffling, while the security guard glared at the older of the two sisters. However, there was nothing he could do about it, and that frustrated him to no end. "Excuse me." Came a voice from behind him. He turned around and, to his surprise, he saw Luan Loud standing there with a chipper smile.
"Miss Loud...I didn't expect you back here…" He said.
"Well, the show must go on." She replied, giving her arm a little swing as if she were punching an imaginary table.
"Are you sure…?" Luan nodded with confidence. "Alright...if you're sure. Go on in. You already have clearance." The gate guard stepped aside to let her in. He took note of the grin on her face, which he found kind of odd, but hey. They said they wanted him to watch the gate and nothing else. Out of his hands now.
"Hey kids! I'm back!" She called out, getting the attention of all the kids. Most of them looked shocked, some looked nervous, a few seemed happy to see her again. Marie gasped at the sight of the Loud clown, while Terri flinched and turned her head in surprise and anger. "And I have a surprise for EVERYONE!" She pointed further into the backyard, where a large fun house had mysteriously appeared. The younger kids all cheered loudly and stampeded toward the newly appeared building, while Terri just gaped at it, wondering where it came from, and Marie nervously approached her.
"Miss Loud...I'm sorry about the rock…" She said in a voice barely above a whisper. "My sister threatened she would-" Before she could go any further, Luan gently pat her on the head and knelt down to her.
"Don'tcha worry about it, kiddo." She replied with a smile. "Now, why don't you go play with your friends, birthday girl? I have things covered here." She gave the girl a quick wink before gently shooing her off toward the fun house. The little redhead was nervous, but when she saw her sister storming toward her and Luan, she bolted toward the fun house like a bat out of Hades.
"Hey! Get back here, you!" Terri shouted, but before she could pursue, Luan grabbed her wrist.
"Ah ah ah. That's for the kiddies." Luan told her. "Besides, I have a big surprise for you, too."
"I thought I told you to get lost, you metal mouthed freak." She snapped at the comedianne, who didn't even flinch.
"Tut tut. Your mother paid good money to have me perform for your little sister's party." The brown haired funny gal replied, waving her finger in a 'naughty naughty' manner at Terri, which further angered her.
"Then I'll have you fired!" She exclaimed, dragging Luan toward her mother (who was still utterly oblivious to what was going on). Exactly what she wanted. "Mom! I want you to fire this second rate clown!"
"Hmmmm? What'd she do?" She asked, glancing lazily at the two.
"She's no good!"
"Are you sure, Terri? I thought I was doing pretty well with the kids, until you instigated the throwing of food...and rocks." Luan said, her smile fading as she leered at Terri, who simply stuck her tongue out at her.
"...well, if you can't handle a little constructive criticism...then perhaps you shouldn't be playing this party." Mrs Westans replied flatly, absolutely zero cares given at the mention of rocks being thrown.
"Yeah. So for the last time…" Terri started, grabbing a nearby stone. "...get lost!" She hurled it right at Luan's head, who simply stood there with a smile...as the rock went right through her head like it were made of nothing and clattered onto the ground behind her. Terri went kind of pale as she witnessed this, while her mother's jaw dropped, her sunglasses falling off her face.
"H...H...How did you do that?"
"How'd I do….what?" The moment Luan asked what, her skin faded of all color, with dark rings around her eyes, a big red spot on her cheek that looked like it had been scraped badly appeared on her face and a sheet like robe replaced her usual outfit, with a big creepy smile to complete the image. Terri screamed at the sight, while her mother gasped and leaped from her beach chair, scrambling away from the creepy, grinning young lady.
"Th….This isn't funny!" The mother cried in fear. "Stop it!" The gate guard looked into the backyard and noticed the cowering mother and daughter. His first instinct was to run in and intervene, but then he remembered the conversation he had earlier with the teenage daughter.
"You there!" Terri yelled at him. "Get in here and do your job!"
"I AM doing my job, kid." He said with a bit of a smirk. "As you so HELPFULLY pointed out earlier, my job is to watch the door. That's all you pay me to do, and all you want me to do." He reminded her, stepping back to his post.
"Luan Loud, if you don't knock it off, I will ruin you!" Terri screamed, in a last ditch attempt to regain control of the situation.
"Oh?" The pale face Luan asked with a tilted head, before her voice changed. "Who said I was Luan!?" What looked like the funny Loud started to grow, her outfit turning into a black and white suit, her head shrinking a little, her hair becoming messy and greenish yellow. The two 'ladies' just gaped in horror as the giant sized Beetlejuice cackled madly, leering down at them.
"W….what are you!?" Mrs Westans asked in a trembling voice.
"The spirit of karma, lady!" He bellowed down at them, rubbing his hands together as his twisted mind considered how to best punish them. Terri ran for it before the ghost could do anything, her mother close behind. The cruel, domineering brat fled right into the fun house, slamming the door shut behind her before barricading it...leaving her own mother outside with BJ.
"Terri! Sweetie! Please open this door!" Mrs Westans begged, pounding on the door.
"Hah. I think you'd be better off asking me for mercy." The middle aged, inattentive mother whimpered as she heard that voice right behind her. She slowly turned to face the ghost, who was nearly face to face with her with a big, toothy grin.
"P...P...Please, don't hurt me…" She pleaded with him, her knees knocking.
"...Wait. Right. Here." He said calmly, pointing down at the spot she was standing. "Don't move. I'll be right back." He instructed her before vanishing.
Inside the fun house, Terri was pushing her was through the line of kids waiting to get into the funhouse proper, including her own sister. "Hey…." Marie complained as her frightened older sister was forcing her way in.
"Don't worry, kid. She isn't going to get away with this." Beetlejuice said to her, dressed as a guy working at a carnival, leaning in beside her. He pointed at the opening leading to the attractions, wiggling his fingers. That door closed and a second door opened. Terri didn't even look, too freaked out about BJ's arrival to notice she went in the wrong door. The moment she entered the second tunnel, the portal snapped shut and the original path opened up.
"Where does that go?" Marie asked curiously.
"Just a special route where rude little children who cut in line (among other things) go." He explained with a smirk. A few of the young'uns in line gulped and covertly moved back in line at that.
"Oh...who are you, by the way?"
"Just the barker here." His head turned into a husky's head, barking a few times and getting some giggles out of Marie before he moved into the darkness and disappeared.
Back outside, Mrs Westans was standing right where BJ had left her, still shivering. The vengeful spirit reappeared and looked down at her feet, then up at her. "Good girl. Stayed put like I asked." He said, patting her on the head (which did nothing to ease her terror).
"D...does that mean you're going to let me go?"
"Ha. Heck no. Just means I'll go easy on ya." He replied with a harsh laugh. "You see, 'eye see' and 'ear' all!" He explained, his eyes bulging out at her and his ears expanding like Dumbo's, causing the carefree mother to scream in fright. "And you, madam, don't seem to like using your eyes and ears to pay attention to your surroundings...especially to what yer kids are up to." He expanded upon, his face still misshapen. "So, by my reckoning...if you don't use them, then you don't want em. In which case, I'll take em!" He pointed his red tipped fingers at him and a beam of magic engulfed the woman's head, her ears and eyes separating themselves from her noggin, leaving blank spaces like she were an unfinished mannequin. She screeched blue, bloody redrum as she started running around the backyard, Beetlejuice laughing his head off. Unable to see or hear, Mrs Westans had no idea where she was going, except for when she bumped into something. In this case, a large pinball bumper, which knocked her on her backside. The grim grinning ghost watched her as she kept bouncing off numerous bumpers her set up (especially around her pool), juggling the eyes and ears he had taken from her.
Terri sighed with relief as she thought she lost the ghost chasing her finally, never sparing a thought for her mother. She started to walk down the dimly lit path, feeling fairly calm, all things considered. The tunnel led her into a room of mirrors, which brought a grin to her face. She paused in front of the first mirrors, which were normal mirrors, posing a bit as she basked in her own reflection. She moved on to the next mirror and noticed it was one of those super tall mirrors. She chuckled for a moment, thinking that was kinda cute, if juvenile. It was the third looking glass where things took a strange turn. As she stepped in front of it, her reflection turned to Luan. She jumped in shock when she saw this, the mirror image looking at her, waving and dashing off to what looked like the next mirror, but she never reappeared there. A little freaked out, she stepped back, bumping into the reflective surface behind her.
She slowly looked back, only to see a shriveled up old hag in the same bikini as her. She screamed at the sight, clutching her rapidly beating heart. "W...what kind of mirror is this!?"
"The kind that looks into your soul!" The hag responded before falling into wheezing laughter. Terri hastily jumped to the next mirrors, which thankfully (for her) caused the hag to disappear, and Luan to reappear.
"You! This is all your fault!" She screamed, pointing at the image of the comedianne. She just grinned at the angry teen. Terri hastily looked around, spotting a hammer on the floor nearby. She quickly grabbed it and hurled it at the mirror. However, instead of breaking, the tool bounced off the head of the image, which fell to the ground OUTSIDE OF THE MIRROR. Terri's pupils shrank as she realized what she just did, and she beat a hasty retreat further down that path. No way is anyone pinning this on her. She runs down the hall as fast as her legs could carry her. Up ahead, she saw the path turn a corner, but there was a door right in front of her as well. Hoping it was a way out, she shoved it open. It was a way out alright, but not the way out she wanted. When she looked out, she found herself staring right into the Neitherworld. She just stood there in disbelief for a moment, with Jacques jogging by the extradimensional door.
"Bonjour!" He offered in salutation as he passed the shocked teen.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She screamed in reply, slamming the door shut. "What kind of fun house is this!?"
"The kind where you get it in the end!" Beetlejuice's voice rang out all around her. Another scream left her mouth as she scrambled off down the tunnel. She wanted desperately to get out of there now. In her panicked state, she didn't notice how the path had become tube shaped, nor how it had started rotating. Her next step was right onto the moving segment, causing her to trip and fall right onto her side. She tried to get back up, but as she tried, her body moved along with the floor, causing her to tumble, roll and fall all over again. She was forced to crawl her way through the rolling hall, getting more and more afraid and angry with each step.
"When I get out of this...I will make Luan Loud pay...I will ruin her stupid company, her stupid reputation, her stupid face….." She growled. "And not just that clown….my little sister...she had to have played a role in this...I'll break her arm…."
"Assuming you get out of here, of course!" Terri squealed in fright, picking up her pace, Beetlejuice having a hearty laugh at her expense. Once she had crawled free of the spinning hall, she started running as fast as she could. Unfortunately for her, that only brought her to BJ's next trap faster. The floor gave out from under her, her speed causing her to hit the side of the pit and giving her a chance to grab the edge.
"Oww...that hurt...but at least I didn't fall."
"Well well…" Beetlejuice said as he floated up beside her, sitting cross legged in mid air, a big toothy grin on his face. "Look at you."
"You again!? Can't you leave me in peace…"
"Wouldn't be the spirit of karma if I did." He replied simply. "However, I think you should be more concerned about you...which should be easy for you, but I digress...seems to me you're in a bit of a ticklish situation…"
"You wouldn't dare…" Terri told him threateningly.
"You're right." He said, which surprised the nasty girl. "I wouldn't. I just want to air out a few things." She blinked for a moment, watching as Beetlejuice took his boots off. The stench of his new, freed socks was horrific, turning Terri slightly green in the face. He then peeled his rancid socks off and draped them on her shoulders. The cruel teen quickly held her breath to keep herself from smelling the horrid scent. "Oh, you wanna play like that, huh? Well, guess what?" She glanced over at him, an angry yet inquisitive look on her face. The ghost turned into a giant feather. "NOW I dare." Terri's eyes widened in fear as she frantically shook her head at him. He just nodded, flicking his head just under her arm. She tried her hardest to keep herself from laughing, breathing in the stink, and hold on to the edge. Her face was turning red as BJ kept zipping from her underarms, her side, and her feet. She whined and whimpered as she struggled, but she couldn't keep it up for long. Something had to give. She let go of the side, falling into the abyss and tossing the two filthy socks off of her before she dared breathe. She soon fell onto a kind of slide, sliding down for a few second until she skidded on her rear onto a conveyor belt.
She groaned a bit as she noticed the darkness around her, starting to wonder what would happen next. "Hahahahahaha! Having fun, kid? Cause I'm having a ball…." The disembodied voice of BJ stated, right when Terri got popped by a small sphere that left a bright pink splotch on her. "...paintball that is!" Right after he delivered the punchline, the terrible teen started getting pelted all over with random colored paintballs. She screamed once more, jumping to her feet and running along the belt, covering her face to protect it. By the time she managed to cross the passage, she looked like a living Jackson Pollock painting, but she didn't stop. She thought she could see a way out up ahead. A big smile of relief came to her face as she made a mad dash for it.
"I'm home free!" She shouted, nearly laughing.
"Not yet!" Terri flinched and looked back, seeing a huge bloodhound with black and white stripes all along its body charging at her. "Woof! Woof! Woof!" Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she ran as quick as she could, but she couldn't outrun the dog. Its large jaws clamped down hard on the back of her swimsuit, causing her to scream yet again (in spite of the fact she was unharmed). A loud ripping sound was heard as the dog stopped, but Terri kept going. The dog snickered, a chunk of gold and silver fabric in its teeth. "It's like I told you…" BJ said as Terri forced the exit door open and ran out into her own backyard, screaming. "...you get it in the end." He continued, before doing a Muttley snicker.
Meanwhile, out front of the house, Lori and Leni were waiting by VanZilla for Beetlejuice to finish up. They had heard the screaming of Terri and her mother earlier and knew he had gotten started. They wished they could have watched, but it was on private property, so they were out of luck. As they waited, they both saw Luan biking up to the property, still looking really sad. This wasn't part of the plan and they got kinda worried. "Luan? What are you doing here?"
"...they may not want me here..but I still have to clean up my stuff…" She said glumly. Just then, they all heard a blood curdling scream coming from the backyard. "What was that?" Before Leni and Lori could respond, Terri came running out from the open gate, wailing like a banshee, waving her arms around like a looney, and covered in every color of the rainbow (and then some). The practical joking sister just looked surprised as her older sisters started laughing. "Terri? What happened to you?"
"YOU!" She screeched, pointing at the professional clown. "YOU DID THIS TO ME!" She sounded positively mad in every definition of the word.
"Me?" Luan was even more lost as her ill wisher grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, glaring daggers at her. Her older sisters, for some reason, were laughing even harder. This got Terri's attention and she turns her head so quick, you'd think she'd get a crick in her neck.
"What's so funny!?" She snapped. In answer, the oldest Loud sisters pointed down at the seat of her bottoms. Both she and Luan both looked down and noticed there was a big hole back there. The cruel teen blushed brightly, even through some of the paint, and covered the spot with both hands. Even Luan couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't mean to be cheeky, Terri, but it looks like you got left with your butt hanging in the wind." She quipped before she could stop herself, sending her older sisters to their knees with laughter. The embarrassed bully suddenly had fire in her eyes as she grabbed Luan's shirt, rearing back her fist to deck her. The fourth eldest sister gulped; her sisters were too far away and were still laughing at Terri too hard to stop her, said teen girl was about to give her a pummeling, and she could even see Mrs Westans storming down the lawn after them. She braced herself for the punch...but it never came. She opened her eyes and, to her surprise, Terri's mother had her free wrist in a vice like grip.
"Mom!? What are you doing!?"
"I should be asking you that, Terri!" She snapped, surprising everyone present. "What do you think you're doing to Miss Loud!?"
"Look what she did to me, Mother!" Terri screamed, gesturing to her paint smeared form.
"I didn't do this. I've been home for the last half hour or so." Luan retorted.
"LIAR!"
"It's true. Ask my parents." The jesting teen handed her phone to Mrs Westans, who proceeded to call Luan's parents. A few minutes later, she hung up.
"Mr and Mrs Loud have confirmed she hadn't left the house until about five minutes ago."
"But….that's not possible...she has to have set up that fun house just to get at me!"
"What fun house?" Luan and the angry mother asked in unison, the former sounding genuinely confused and shrugging.
"THAT FUN-" She started to scream. pointing back at the...empty space in her backyard where it used to be. "...but..but...but…" She stammered, her rage giving way to panic and bemusement.
"I think I've heard enough, young lady! Between this and the whole rock incident, enough is too much!" Mrs Westan barked, thrusting her finger toward the front door. "Get inside, get cleaned up and go to your room! We'll discuss your punishment for your actions after the party is over!"
"But Moooooom…."
"No more buts out of you, or it will lead to a spanked one, now march!"
"But Marie threw the-"
"I will be discussing that with her myself once the party's over! March!" Terri just stood there, aghast, clearly not used to being punished. "NOW!" Mrs Westan bellowed, her oldest daughter running like her tail was on fire through the front door. She then looked to Luan, who was just plain stunned. "I'm so very sorry, Miss Loud, for what my daughters did…"
"Er….apology accepted." The comedianne said once the shock wore off. "But...could you not be so hard on Marie? I know she cast the first stone, but it was only because-"
"I know, Miss Loud. Mr Beetleman explained it to me. I can't believe I slept through all that…" Luan was about to ask about that, but her sisters shook their heads to her. "But regardless, she never should have throw the rock either way...you aren't hurt bad, are you?"
"No...just sore and a little red still. No bruises, broken bones or teeth. Guess I got really lucky." She replied, turning her face to show her her cheek.
"It still shouldn't have happened…" Mrs Westans said, shaking her head, pulling her purse from seemingly nowhere and then pulled out a check book. She hastily wrote up a check and handed it to her. "I do hope that helps ease the blow...and settles things between us?" She asked hopefully and somewhat scared.
"It's really not necessary, Ma'am. I'm not hurt that bad…but, if it makes you feel better…"
"Thank you so much...and I do hope I can still call you for Marie's next birthday."
"Of course, Ma'am." The two of them shook hands before Mrs Westans hurried back to her backyard gate, where Beetlejuice (dressed as a handyman) was waiting, pulling a wagon of Luan's gear. "Thank you so much for watching the kids while I was asleep, Mr Beetleman."
"No problem lady. I've got no problem doing a little extra work...for a little extra cash." He replied hopefully, rubbing his fingers together.
"Of course. Worth every penny." She pulled out forty dollars and handed it to the ghostly handyman.
"A pleasure doing business with you, ma'am. And if you ever need any handy work around the house, be sure to call BJ Beetleman." He pitched, handing her a business card before he rolled the wagon along to meet with the Loud sisters. Before he could say anything, Marie came running up to the lot of them.
"Miss Luan! There you are! You had just...disappeared from the party after you sent us to the fun house." Luan looked kind of confused about this, but Beetlejuice was ready to field this one.
"You know these professionals, kid. Always leave em wanting more, and Luan here is as professional as they come." Marie seemed satisfied with that answer, as she nodded and smiled up at the ponytailed comedianne before her.
"Oh. Well, I was hoping I could catch you to say goodbye, I'm sorry...and thank you for brightening my birthday." She said before giving Luan a big hug.
"Awwww, you're welcome, Marie."
"Hey...kid. Come 'ere a second." BJ said, motioning her to come have a private chat with her. The two of them take a few steps away from the Louds, the ghost with the most pulling a business card out of his pocket. "If your sister gives you grief again...gimme a call." He told her quietly, handing her the card, which had his true name on it three times.
"Thank you, Mr Beetleman...wait. There's no number on here. Just the word Beetle-"
"Ah ah ah. Save it for special occasions." He said with a wink. "Now run along and remember: mums the word to Mum about the fun house."
"I'll remember. Thanks again!" Marie ran off back to the party, waving to the four of them as she went. Beetlejuice chuckled lightly, turning around and nearly getting a tackled by Leni giving him a hug, a move that surprised him.
"Err...what's all this?"
"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but that was a legit good thing you did there, Beetlejuice." Lori spoke up, with a smile on her face. "You not only got back at that little brat, but made her mother open her eyes and offered to protect Marie too."
"And like we said before; you do something nice, something nice happens to you." Leni explained to him.
"Alright alright...just don't let it get around." Beetlejuice said quietly, quickly glancing around to make sure no one he knew was looking. "I got a bad reputation to uphold." That comment brought a laugh to Lori, Leni and Luan.
"So...I gotta ask...what did Mrs Westans mean she fell asleep?" Luan asked, looking specifically at BJ.
"Pretty much what she said. She fell asleep not long after you and I got there…" BJ started, the story sounding very rehearsed. "...and she had this HORRIBLE nightmare that her oldest kid was a little snot rag to everyone and brought forth the 'spirit of karma' upon them…" Beetlejuice paused to snicker a bit. "...one of my better ideas. Anyway, said spirit took away her eyes and ears as punishment, and left her to stumble about her own backyard. She woke up about the time she fell into the pool in her dream, and told me everything. I told HER it must have just been a nightmare and filled her in on what went down while she was out. I guess the nightmare was a real eye opener for her."
"Hahaha! I HAVE to hear what else I missed." Luan said with a soft laugh.
"We'll fill you in on the way home." Lori said, opening the back of the van to help BJ get her sister's bike and gear into the back. "Seriously, Beetlejuice...thanks for sticking up for Luan."
"What can I say? She's my pal, and no one messes with Beetlejuice's pals and gets off scot free." He told her, the ghost suddenly wearing a kilt.
"You may be annoying and a jerk...but sometimes...you're alright, Beetlejuice." Lori told him as she closed up the back, she and the slimy spirit getting into Vanzilla to head for home and retell the story of Beetlejuice's revenge.
AN: As a side note, I realize I've been using the Betty Juice disguise a lot. First time was purely for BJ to pick on Lincoln. Second because that's who Lydia's friends knew the best. And third because Betty established herself in Royal Woods already. I will try and mix it up more in future chapters.