Author's Note: Alright guys, can you believe it? This is the last chapter! I'd like to thank the reviewers of the last chapter: rubydesires, Reader, Substitute Reality, Cybernetic Mango, dbzgtfan2004, and Kaggy-Higgs88. I enjoyed writing this story, very much.

There's nothing much else to say, except I'll be writing other stories for this fandom, so look out for my name. I love you all, and I want to give cookies to all of you. 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Beetlejuice, or Beauty and the Beast. The random twists and characters that do not belong to either fandom are mine though.

Now, onto the last chapter of:

The Beauty and The Beetle

Ch. 15: The last chance

---

Why did she go?

A low hum of energy filled the room, as sparks of lime green and ruby red filled every crevice. A blond sat against a wall, defeated and pissed. His eyes were covered with dirty strands, as his teeth, making an appearance to the world, made a sharp squeal, as his upper lip twitched. He curled forward slightly, as servants watched his back seem to grow shorter.

Who does she think I am?

There was a crash from the main level of the roadhouse, as there was a loud splash and breaking of glass. Followed by it were pleads of a barely able Chuck-at least that's what those pricks called the poor guy. Pleads became louder, as coughs started to come rapidly. Jaded flickers of servants flinched as there was a loud thump.

Jacques and Ginger, the boldest out of all of the servants, stepped forward slowly, and stood behind him. They glanced at each other, trying to think of how to approach their master. Ginger waved for him to start, and Jacques narrowed his stare at her. He bit back a sigh and looked at Beetlejuice. "Master, I think we should…" His voice trailed off as there were thick coughs coming from below, and a slight chuckle from a stranger's voice.

"What, bonehead?!" Beetlejuice snapped, his voice raw and thick. He hadn't moved at all, and the two looked at each other again. Ginger wrung two of her hands, and looked at Beetlejuice worriedly, obviously there for moral support.

Jacques looked at Beetlejuice, and sighed lightly, closing his eyes. He didn't like how his friend looked; betrayed and broken; the shaking didn't help either. "We should protect the castle; protect the rose."

At this Beetlejuice snapped. In one motion he raised, spun, grabbed Jacques by the neck of his spine, and slammed him against the wall a foot off the ground. Jacques was surprised, until he noticed the wild of his eyes, and sighed openly, looking at him with pity. Beetlejuice sneered deeply, letting spikes grow out of his back, along his spine. "Don't fucking look at me like that, damn bonehead. I'm your fucking master, so treat me as such!" he snarled, and Jacques frowned even more.

A damn weakling?

"My master is not an animal." Jacques said slowly as he pulled Beetlejuice's hand off gently, slowly lowering himself to the ground. Beetlejuice flinched as Jacques continued. "My master may be pig headed, and cold towards others, but he fights for what he loves, no?" Jacques said, tilting his head down and looking at him upwardly. "And my master is my master for those reasons, not for this." He said, waving a hand at the shaking, spiked man before him.

Beetlejuice stared at Jacques, scoffed, and then slowly pulled his spikes inward. He shoved his hands into his pockets, and looked away. He flinched as a boney hand rested on his shoulder. "So, are you a man, or a mouse?" He asked, and slowly everyone in the room smiled with hope at their master.

No…

And slowly, Beetlejuice started to grin a wicked grin.

I'm the fucking ghost with the most…

---

Screams could be heard in the center of town, as Lydia was on display. Wrists tied to two by fours, ankles tied together at the base of the structure, as her dress, torn and tattered, was barely hanging onto her shaking form. Her eyes, wide from the panic and terror originated from the mass of town folk, narrowed in anger. She sneered and threw her shoulders, wiggling and coughing a sob as the thick robe dug deeper into her wrists. Her big brown eyes followed the rather giant priest, as he carried sharp implements and holy water in alcohol bottles.

She then stiffened; her face shiny with sorrow and anguish. Father Otho, as the town lovingly called him, then played with the sharp point of one of the daggers, ignoring the shivering girl in front of him. Lydia bit her lip, and slowly closed her eyes, pushing back a sob. "Father Otho…"

She felt eyes flicking onto her, ignoring the crowd's anxiousness. She met his eyes, a plead in the depths of her soul. "Father Otho…Why do you wish to do such harm onto God's creature?" her voice asked softly, lips barely matching what was said.

Otho didn't waste another second on her figure, as he fiddled with another knife. "God's creature…puh, God's creature. If you truly were God's creature, than you would not be swayed so easily; neither would your…associates, or father." He glanced up as he selected his favored item of purification, noticing the confused, and fearful, look in her eyes. A smirk almost slipped onto his face. "Your associates, the Maitlands, needed to be purified by the waters of God." He said calmly.

She started to shake. "You…you drowned them?" She asked softly, and got a nod in reply.

"Yes, but they are in a better place. The demons left them as soon as the water reached every inch of their body, mind, and soul. I'm sure, in purgatory, they are thanking me to the core. I released them from their blasphemy, as I will do to you soon enough."

"You're going to…drown me?"

"No, no, dear child, I cannot simply drown you. The demons have sunk in too deeply to simply be washed away. We need to cut into your soul, and wash you clean from the inside out, spiritually and otherwise."

She eyed the knives and alcohol, and then looked at him. "That is torture."

"This is purification, my dear. You will thank me as soon as I cleanse every inch of your property." He said, as he touched the sharp cold to her upper chest, right above her left breast. "We will start with the heart. Do not fear child, the demons will soon be gone soon." He said, noticing her shaking.

With a long, slow cut, she let out a scream. The crowd gasped and started to riot, claiming her to be possessed by a demon. Otho then grabbed the bottle, and splashed it into her wound. She started to shake, screaming louder. The riot became louder, as he tried to hush Lydia. "Be calm, the pain is the demon in your body trying to close itself from the holy water. You mustn't scream, or else the demon will claim you permanently. We must leave the wound open, so that the demon can be removed by the holy water. Don't scream, or you will die." He said calmly, as he repeated his procedure.

All the while, Lance watched with a hidden smirk, and Vince watched on with peaceful bliss, glad that his fiancée was getting proper treatment for her disease. She would be fine soon enough, he told himself, and clapped as Otho finished the mutilation of Lydia.

Lydia wasn't fairing well, as to be expected. She clamped her eyelids shut, and held back a groan, not wanting to give Father Otho any reason to let more of her blood flow free. She panted softly, not noticing as a presence gathered in front of her. There was a small, cold touch to her cheek, as it danced around the small, but deep, cut to her right cheek bone. There was a coo as lips touched to hers, but she didn't notice. There was a soft voice that followed, and she could only catch a few words: Lydia, married, sunrise.

She closed her eyes and everything started to fuzz onto the brink of darkness. She couldn't let herself pass out, not now. Slowly though, she felt the black shift into green, and there was a voice in her head. She smiled faintly and started to laugh breathily.

She didn't need to see the sparkle of green fury, or that it lit up the night sky in a ten mile radius. She didn't need to focus onto the body of black and white that stood in between her and Vince, but what she heard was good enough.

There was a loud crack of face breaking against knuckle, as the crowd shouted 'Prince'. Loud footsteps echoed, and as suddenly as they showed, they left, followed by loud thumps and groans. There was a hurried huff, and heavy steps tried to be as rapid as possible, but didn't speed up as wished. Then, a choked scream, as a low growl filled her mind with a pleasurable after-growl.

Then, words so low that wouldn't normally be caught filled her head.

"Hurt my Lydia again, you sick lard, and next time you won't be let off easily."

A sickening snap of spine and skull dislodging tapped on the inner workings of her mind, if only for a second.

Then, she slowly started to fade…

---

Beetlejuice stood, looking around his personal battlefield. There were a lot of unconscious bodies, two bodies with broken noses and red war paint, and there was the giant body of filth and death, but that's beside the point. He then turned to his red soaked angel, sprawled out savior style. It made his blood boil; he would take his rage out on the boulder of lard in the corner soon enough.

In less than a blink of an eye, he was in front of her, grabbing her by the sides of her face. He shook her head gently, his eyes wide and his heart pounding. Every nerve, every fiber of his being, was screaming at him for not being there sooner. "Lydia…Lydia..." He clamped his eye shut and lowered his head down. "Lydia!" He snapped, and got a faint sigh of pain in response. His head shot up, and he slowly smiled, his eyebrows twitching slightly.

He looked her over, and growled lowly. He leaned forward, to the cut on her chest, and pressed his lips against it gently. He closed his eyes and started to breath out green smoke. It seeped into her wound, and, as he pulled away from it, he watched as the wound glowed the toxic green. It then started to close itself, stitching into itself until it finished quickly with a final tug. His eyes slowly lidded, and he looked at her face with a pain in his eyes.

He continued with this process, taking extra care with certain wounds, and slowly the ten mile glow turned into a two foot one. After he was finished he looked at her, and untied her slowly; starting from the ankles, and working on the wrists. When he finished he grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her into his grip, but fell back, finally feeling the weight of her, and what he had just done.

With a shift she was leaning against his chest, as he leaned against the wood prison Lydia was in earlier, and he watched her with tired eyes. He traced the outline of her face, feeling every curve through the blood and pain marks. He let out a faint growl, as he rested his head on hers, and then planted a light kiss on her forehead. Then, as he looked at her face, which was as beautiful as ever, he softly smirked and spoke with a low husky speech.

"Hey babes, I really fucked up, huh?...heh…it's alright babes…we're both hurting pretty badly…"

He chuckled softly, as he brushed a strand of blood soaked hair from her face. He then leaned over slightly, looking at her with sad eyes.

"Listen babes…I…I won't be around much longer. I know you might think…I abandoned you…but I ain't gonna do that if I had any choice…cuz Lyds…that old hag…might have not seen it, but I found the last second loop hole… ya see…we ghosts…have a life source, a life glow, if you will…"

He paused, and closed his eyes. He felt more tired than he felt in a long time.

"we can use this life source, to heal the people we care for…and love…"

He slowly looked at her, his thumb brushing over her motionless lips slowly.

"it's a last chance thing, ya see. You're a great babe, and if I had let ya die, than I wouldn't be able ta live with myself, ya know? That fat bastard cut ya up pretty badly, but don't worry, I got him for ya."

He chuckled only once, looking through her eyelids and into her soul.

"So…I gotta do this for ya Lyds…even if ya end up hating me, I gotta save ya. I gotta love ya, cuz if I don't then it's not worth bein' on this earth…heh…ya'd probably think I'd be a coward, sayin' all this to an unconscious chick, but if I didn't, then I couldn't say it at all…"

He sighed, and leaned forward, touching nose to nose. He looked at her eyes again.

"I love ya Lydia, so much I'm givin' up the last of my juice to ya…the last of my life source…heh…don't be a stranger."

He smirked and pressed his lips to hers gently. With one final breath, he was gone…

---

Lydia felt better than she ever had before, better than she could remember in fact. What awaited her in the waking world killed her buzz on life though, as she stared into the face of the dead. Her eyes widened, as she took in all of it; the grayed skin, the faded blond, and the empty green.

She started to shake, and she grabbed his shoulders, hoping it was all a dream.

"Beetlejuice…"

It had to be a dream…

"Beetlejuice…"

It just…had to be a dream…

"Askel!"

This was not a dream.

Heat blurred her vision, as she clamped her eyes shut and crumpled against his broken body. She started to sob and scream, when she heard a snap of the air. Smoke filled her senses, but she ignored it.

"Damn kids, thinking stunts like that would actually solve anything."

Lydia quieted slowly, but still pressed herself against the broken body, trying to imprint his scent into her DNA.

The woman, annoyed by the whole fiasco, took a nice, long, drag out of her immortal cancer stick, and blew it around the two, enveloping them and catching Lydia's notice. Slowly the girl dressed in scars and tears turned to the woman with the smell of annoyance and aggravation deep on her person. Lydia didn't rub her face, didn't look at herself, and didn't even think about how she was still alive. All she did was gawk at the ninety-something year old woman, with a thick gash through her neck, and ask her one simple question.

"Who are you?"

The woman stared at Lydia, and closed her eyes, taking a smaller drag from her cigarette. Then, with it dangling from her right hand, which was lazing over the woman's right shoulder, the woman blew a puff into the girl's face.

"Juno."

"Juno?"

"Juno."

"Oh…"

Lydia sent a glance back at the limb body in the corner, but was snapped back into attention by the loud bark the woman's second mouth seemed to make.

"Don't look at him; he is not your concern at this moment."

Lydia turned her big sad eyes to the stern woman, and nodded slowly.

"Then what is my concern?"

"Your plea."

Lydia blinked, and raised an eyebrow. "My plea?"

Juno paused, and then sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, and pressing the butt of her stick to her lips, in reassurance. "Mortals, these days…" She mumbled, and then turned to Lydia. "Yes, your plea on why his soul should return to his body."

Lydia paused, and felt the echo of soothing words rushing back to the forefronts of her mind. "But…" slowly, she went on. "But…isn't that…life energy…their soul?"

Juno sighed. "Not a quick one, are you?" she said quickly, and then laced her fingers together, cigarette in a safe place, as she leaned forward on her elbows. "That life source mumbo jumbo is just a replacement for the dead, and those bound to the dead. Yes, it can repair a soul, and act as a substitute, but it is no replacement. The occupant of said life source may feel like they felt in their human state, but their emotions are magnified, and the thing they are missing from their original soul, becomes magnified in the presence of someone who can supply that need."

Lydia blinked, and closed her eyes, trying to process the information. It was a lot to take in. Heck, she finally noticed that, somehow, they were in front of the castle again. Probably the doing of this Juno woman...Finally, her mind made the connection. "But, I couldn't supply anything for him."

Juno groaned and flicked her hand towards her cigarette, the need for it burning with the intensity of a thousand suns. "He gave you his life source though. Tricky bastard did find a loop hole, a damn good one too. But, at least it proved something from our agreement." She said more to herself than to Lydia, who just watched. Cold stone eyes flicked up to meet the intimidated brown ones. "He needed someone who wouldn't bend to his will. He needed someone who had a spine, wit, and could keep him on his damn toes. To him that's 'reality in a person' or some crap like that." Juno barked, and Lydia blinked.

"I'm the furthest from real though."

"That may be the case, but you could see through the disguise of your home. You knew everyone was not as they seemed, and you side stepped it all. You saw the good in that cheep bastard, if there even was any to begin with…" Juno sighed and scratched at the bridge of her nose. "Because of that, because you treated him like an equal, Askel's jackassery melted away into something genuine, something he would risk his life for; love."

Juno then fixated on Lydia, noticing she became more and more miserable by the second. "So, since that end of the bargain was fulfilled, we need to see about the other end. Can't have this fucking kiddy ride be all for not."

Lydia furrowed her eyebrows, and stared at Juno. "Bargain?"

Juno was silent, for a little bit, as she eyed her stick with desire. She then closed her eyes and sighed. "Yes, the bargain to win his soul back." She said, her eyes flickering back open. "The question is, do you want his soul?"

Lydia paused, closed her eyes, and slowly nodded. "Yes…he saved my life…he's my best friend…" she said, slowly opening her eyes. Juno was frowning heavily at that.

"You only want him back for those reasons? Because, if that's true, than that isn't going to cut it girlie." She said, sitting up and squaring her shoulders. "Is that your true reasoning? Your honest, truest feelings?"

Lydia was motionless, as her mind raced with what this woman said. She…she didn't know. Sure, he was her friend; her closest and dearest friend, sad enough to say. Even though she knew him for a week, more or less, she felt…like home around him. She was never bored, she looked forward to waking up, to seeing those eyes of his, and that warmth he showed, even though no one else acknowledged it. She doubted anyone could even see that side of him. He might be a jerk, invade her personal space, and demand outrageous things of her, she… She couldn't live without it. She felt a thrill around him, she felt accepted, she felt peaceful, she felt like nothing could hurt her, when she was around him.

She felt happy…

She felt loved…

She…

Lydia slowly opened her eyes, and looked into Juno's expecting eyes. "I love him. I couldn't live a day without him, and life without him wouldn't be worth living."

Juno paused, to take those words in. She rested the sides of her forefingers to her chin, as she closed her eyes. A few moments later, she looked at Lydia, and with one swoop she grabbed a stamp, and slammed it down onto a paper.

"Smart wording girl."

Then, in a flash, the farthest most corners of the horizon, as far as the eye could see in all directions, started to lose their haze. A darkness that had befallen the kingdom slowly started to separate, and be pulled towards the two females. The forest that surrounded the town, and the roadhouse, dissipated as hellish fog passed over it. The small town of medieval rituals turned into a booming modern metropolis, and the decaying roadhouse turned into a beautiful stone castle.

Then, as all that fog gathered into a giant ball, the darkness slowly seeped out of it, fading into nothingness, until it was pure liquid green light. The ball of light condensed, and slowly hovered over to where Beetlejuice's body lay. Then, it slowly flowed into his mouth, making him glow.

"Keep him out of trouble now." Came Juno's final words, as she disappeared into the atmosphere.

Lydia walked over to his body slowly, and knelt down next to him when he finally stopped glowing. She reached out slowly, but hesitated as a spark flew out of his skin. She gasped, and gently touched his chest, right where his heart would be.

A few seconds passed, when he jerked forward, and took in a deep and long breath. He sat up, clutched his chest and throat, and panted slowly, his skin taking a nice pink tone.

Tears filled Lydia's eyes, and she launched forward, tackling him from the side. He let out a yelp, and fell over. "Beetlejuice!" Lydia cried, and pressed her face into his chest. He blinked, looked down at her, and smiled softly, holding close.

"Lydia…" He hummed into the top of her head, and kissed it softly. He then smirked, and then finally started to laugh loudly. "Hell yes! I'm alive!" he stopped laughing, looked at her, and then grabbed her shoulders, pulling her away just enough to look her in the face. "Lyds…how'd I get like this?"

Lydia's face went a deep red, as she shifted, looking down at the ground. "Y…you see…Juno negotiated with me…she said I had to prove to her why you should get your soul back…and I said a few things…and well…here we are!" she smiled and scratched the back of her neck, laughing lightly.

He blinked and grabbed her chin lightly, catching her attention again. "What'd ya say babes?"

Lydia blushed and shifted, biting her lower lip. "It's…embarrassing…"

He slowly smirked and lidded his eyes, leaning forward. "Did ya tell that old hag that ya couldn't live without my greatness around?" he joked, but didn't get a response. He blinked and looked at her, raising his eyebrows slowly. "You…you did?"

She sighed looked away. "I just said that I needed to kick your jerk butt for dying on me, and that if ya didn't come back, then I wouldn't know what I would do about my lovesickness…" she flinched and turned away, looking down at the ground. "I wouldn't know what to do without you…and I wouldn't know how to deal with a broken heart…" she mumbled. "But that's probably the stupidest thing you've ever heard, right?" she asked softly.

Arms around her told her otherwise. She blinked and turned to look at Askel, who was holding her close, with a hand between her shoulder blades, and another on the back of her head. He pulled her into his lap, and held her close, like she was his life source. She smiled softly and wrapped her arms around him, leaning against him and closing her eyes.

"If anything happened ta ya Lyds, I dunno what'd I do. I'm so fucking glad yer alive." He said into her hair, and she smiled.

---

The two of them walked, hand in hand, towards the castle, when all of the servants came running out, cheering and roaring in happiness. The crowd surrounded the two, cheering on their master and his new reason for life. Then, slowly, they quieted down, and four individuals squeezed through the crowd. The first was a man, with a dark tan and smoothed back black hair, sporting a muscle shirt and black jeans, hand in hand with a woman. She had curly hair the color of rust and big hazel eyes, wearing a bubblegum pink summer dress and lavender apron. The third individual, helping the fourth by the arm and back gently, was a rather lean man with dark brown hair and large kind eyes the color of the sky. He wore a green shirt and blue jeans, and he smiled at the fourth; a familiar elder blond.

Lydia gasped and pulled away from Askel, rushing forward to her father, who looked at her with happiness. "Papa! You're safe!" she cried, hugging Charles close.

He nodded gently and pulled away to smile at her. "Yes, yes, I'm perfectly fine…I don't know how that happened, since I was coughing up a lung earlier, but I feel so much better. These kind people helped me." He said, waving his hand to the crowd, who smiled and made noises of pleasure.

Lydia smiled and nodded, but quickly noticed someone rushing to the middle of the crowd. A young man with bouncy blond hair and glasses that fit his face perfectly, rushed towards Askel and launched himself at the older blond. Askel blinked and sighed, patting the younger doppelganger on the back. "There, there Will, everything is fine now. No need to let loose the water works."

Will nodded fiercely, still clinging to Askel. "You could have died though! What were you thinking!" He cried, and Askel smirked.

"Love, that's what I was thinking." He nodded, and Lydia smiled.

---

Slowly the kingdom continued, as it did on the night of the curse, six hundred and thirty two years ago. Except, there was one change; Askel was happy with the woman of his heart by his side.

Fin.