The Hourglass Angel

Mitsuko Imaidegawa: So, guys, can you help me out here and say the disclaimer?

Ace: No.

Mitsuko: Why not?

Mira: Ace's just being a jerk. Here, I'll say it. Mitsuko Imaidegawa does not own Bakugan and never will.

Mitsuko: Now, Ace that was easy of Mira to say, wasn't it?

Ace: *grumbles unintelligently*

Chapter 1

Setting the Stage

The Bakugan Battle Brawlers walked down the streets of Wardington in the cool, crisp summer air. They were all headed to one place: the Wardington Theater of Performing Arts. It didn't seem like a likely place for the top brawlers of both Earth and Vestal to hang out, but there was a reason. Julie had convinced the gang that they should attend a camp, and not just any camp, an Acting camp. One where everyone would break out of their comfort zones and become a character. Why she had chosen this, no one knew. But they all knew that there was no way to talk her out of something once she set her mind to it. She was Julie Makimoto, after all.

A few blocks from their destination, they all decided to take a break from the scorching heat and sit under the shade of a tree that sat in the middle of the park. Sweat was beading on everyone's foreheads and breathing was hard to do.

Dan sighed. "Tell me again why we're doing this?"

"Don't you remember?" Alice said. "Julie asked us to join her at her Acting Camp. She finds it pretty lonely there without a friend."

"Why can't she just make new friends?" Runo snapped.

"That's not very nice," chastised Alice.

"Well, it's not very nice that we have to walk all the way there in the heat without any directions!"

"She said it was near the library," said Shun. He was leaning against the trunk of the tree nonchalantly, across from Ace. "But we haven't even passed it yet."

Marucho said, "I would have brought my GPS, but I was afraid it would spontaneously combust due to the sun's rays."

The group sighed simultaneously and basked in the coolness of the tree's shade. Everyone had second thoughts about the whole idea. It wasn't like Julie had ever asked them to attend a camp they didn't know squat about before. Being friends of hers for so long, they decided to agree. And she'd seemed so overjoyed, too.

"We should keep going," said Mira. Everyone groaned and started walking again. After what seemed like hours, the Brawlers finally made it to the theater. Now, instead of dragging their feet, they quickened their pace. They all knew that the building would have air conditioning and that their sweaty foreheads would be cleaned.

The Wardington Theater for Performing Arts was a tall building that had three floors. The exterior was mostly brick, but the front doors were glass. There was a window that held all of the upcoming events and some theater masks. Stairs ascended up the side of the building to other doors that either lead to the second or third floor. The public library was right beside the theater.

"See?" Alice said. "I told you it would all work out!"

Alice, always the optimist, made everyone feel a bit better about this whole thing anyways. A few of them even smiled.

"Who knows," Dan said, folding his arms into his chest, "maybe this can be fun!"

They all agreed and entered the theater.

At first, they were taken aback. No one was there at the front desk. It was expected, after all. How were you supposed to register and meet the other if there was no one there?

"This doesn't look too good," said Baron.

"Maybe we have the wrong day?" thought Ace.

"Just keep your eyes peeled for anyone official-looking," Marucho stated. For a few seconds the group wandered the office in search of someone. After a short period of time, they heard footsteps.

"We're down here!" a voice beckoned. It was coming from the foyer, the place that they assumed no one would be.

"Let's just hope we're right about this," grumbled Ace. They huddled down the stairs and found that a young woman was behind a desk, scrawling something down on a piece of paper. Two tables were in front of the desk, one that had the registration sheet on top and the other with colourful construction paper and other craft supplies. The woman looked up and smiled at the group.

"Hello, there," she said, not nearly as cheery and superficial as most stereotypical camp counselors are. "I'm Talia, your counselor for Acting Camp. You can call me Tali, if that's easier to remember." Dan noticed Baron drooling and becoming starry-eyed over her. "If you don't mind, can you please sign your name on the sheet? That way we can keep track of attendance and other stuff like that. You can set your bags near the piano beside me. Camp doesn't start until nine, so you can just chill out until then."

Everyone nodded and hustled over to the sign-up sheet. No one seemed to notice that Julie wasn't around. One by one, each brawler signed their name and took up a seat around the room. Shun was the only one to hover around the clipboard.

"Hey, guys, where's Julie? Didn't she say she'd be waiting?" Runo asked.

"That's what I heard," Mira confirmed.

"Maybe she's in the washroom." Marucho suggested.

"Guys," Shun said. "Her name isn't on the list."

"Whaddya mean it's not on there?" Dan said. They all ran to the sheet where Shun was looking at all of the names.

"She's not here, Dan. It's plain and simple."

All eyes were scanning the sheet for Julie's name, but it never appeared. Sighs and groans of frustration echoed in the room.

"So she lied to us!"

"I knew it was a bad idea."

"Aw, come on, maybe she got the wrong week?"

"No, she lied to us!"

"What seems to be the problem?"

Talia walked out from what seemed to be the kitchen. She had her arms folded over her chest and she lokoed worried.

"Have you heard of a girl by the name of Julie Makimoto signing up for this camp?"

Talia walked over to the laptop that resided behind the front desk and furiously typed into it. She turned it around and showed her version of the sign in list. It was only slightly modified, her being a counselor and whatnot. Julie's name still wasn't there. "Sorry, guys, I haven't heard of her before. Maybe she got the wrong camp…?"

The Brawlers groaned and returned to their seats. The thoughts of the group revolved around Julie and her manipulation skills. How could we get sucked into this? She owes us so badly! Now what are we going to do? We paid good money for this camp. I wonder what's for lunch? Shun didn't return to his seat. Instead, he asked to see Talia's computer and she obliged. Scanning the screen he found some very disturbing news.

"Hey, Dan, come here for a minute."

"What's up, Shun?"

Shun pointed to the screen and the six names that came after theirs. Dan gasped in horror. All Shun had to do was nod his head in agreement. The others noticed Dan's response and they quickly wanted to know what Shun had discovered. As soon as they saw it, they all shared looks of disdain, shock and worry. All eight of them said the name two words at the same time.

"The Vexos."

A/N Hello, all! This is my first story here on FanFiction and I'd like to say I'm quite proud of it right now! I've been thinking about this idea for a while, so it's been in my head, but I had not the time to make an account and type it out. The POV in this chappie is quite generalized, but in coming chappies, it will mostly be from Runo's, with the exception of a few people. I hope to hear from some people about this. Enjoy and I'll (hopefully) see you all in the next chappie!

~Mitsu-chan~3