Disclaimer: I do not own Bakugan

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Upon seeing his missing friend, now suddenly standing right in front of him, Shun couldn't describe what he was feeling right now

Instead he took his friends appearance in instead. He was better looking than the pictures that Ren had shown Marucho and him. He wasn't bruised or bloody looking, but…. he wasn't healthy looking either

Dan's skin was pale, enough to look like a ghost, and judging from the bags under his eyes he was downright exhausted. He was wearing dark jeans and a zipped up red jacket, the sleeves being pushed up just below his elbows. What concerned Shun was that Dan's forearms were wrapped in white bandages, they looked fresh like they've just been put on.

"DANIEL!"

The shout from the other side of the portal brought everyone out of their stupor

"That sounded like Drago" whispered Marucho, still shocked at the sight of his friend

Fabia winced as she looked at Dan's face. His lips pressed together in a hard line, she could she betrayal and hurt in his eyes.

She steeled herself, "I'm sorry, but I had to try" she said willing for him to understand

With a blank expression he looked at her. He closed his eyes and sighed before giving her a half-smile, to which Fabia returned knowing that she was forgiven

"Dan?"

Upon hearing his name, Dan stiffened, and his breath held. Slowly he turned his head towards the familiar voice, to find his old friends staring at him. He hurriedly diverted his gaze to the floor, chewing at his lower lip nervously.

"Where have you been Dan" questioned Marucho "What happened to you?" he asked talking about his friend's haggard appearance

"DANIEL! GET BACK HERE NOW!"

Dan flinched at the tone of his partner's voice; it was furious. But that wasn't what caused the flinch, there was something else in Drago's voice that only Dan could hear

Fabia sensing that their 'situation' was about to go south, hurriedly grabbed Dan's hand and made a dash towards the open portal, bringing him with her.

Shun hurriedly went after them, out of the corner of his eye he saw Jake grab Marucho as he tried to do the same. Ren was shouting for him to stop

"Dan! Wait!"

His hand reaching out to grab the Pyrus brawler, almost brushing it

The Portal closed

Marucho's shoulders sagged as he buried his head in his hands

"We saw him, he was right there! Right in front of us, we nearly had him back" he cried

Outside of Bakugan Interspace, sitting on the steps next to him, Shun said nothing but he inclined his head in his friends to show that he was listening.

If I had just reacted quicker, I could have stopped him…. Damn it

Jake and Ren had left hours ago, knowing that the two needed to get their space for the time being

Shun leant back putting his arms behind him to support his weight as looked up at the evening sunset, he let out a huff "At least we know he's alive"

Marucho gave him a mirthless laugh, still thinking back to the day's events. Looking back…he frowned, something bothered him

"Hey, did you notice the way Dan reacted when he heard Drago. that was strange, and the way that Drago sounded, he was furious"

Shun had to agree, that was unusual. Although they've had their disagreements, the relationship between the two has always been close, they were like brothers.

"I wonder if the Neathians could be using Drago to get to Dan" wondered Marucho

"It's possible" replied Shun thinking the theory over

Marucho gave a large sigh before standing up, he turned to look at Shun

"I think we need to think this over more. Today's been a long day, why don't we go home and get some rest" he suggested

Shun agreed, even he felt washed out from the day, and with that the two went their separate ways

They never noticed they set of eyes watching them from afar

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Have a merry Christmas!