Merry Krismas - A Deltarune Christmas Fanfic

Chapter 5 - Pursuit

The noises seemed to be of various items clanging together behind the school. The racket was muffled, as if they were items inside a bag, but they were loud enough to catch Susie's attention and make her search for the source of the noise.
That's strange, she thought. Shouldn't everyone be inside or something?
She peeked to see what was behind the school, and there she saw a big figure. His features weren't very clear in the dark night, but Susie could tell that he was stuffing various items into a sack, which caused the suspicious noise. What was even more peculiar was that this figure seemed to have some resemblance to Susie in terms of appearance. They were both tall; even their large snouts looked the same. Guess Temmie wasn't lying, Susie thought. Whatever. I found the real culprit. Now he'll get what he deserves.
"Hey." Susie's blank voice somehow caught the figure by surprise. He desperately tried to hide what seemed to be the source of the noise. Unfortunately, the large sack was too big to conceal.
As Susie approached him, she noticed that the figure was some kind of big skunk with a black beanie, a pair of black mittens, and a baggy coat. He was supposed to be slightly taller than Susie, but he was still sitting back, trying to hide the sack behind him.
"What's that you got there?" Susie asked him rather rhetorically.
The skunk stiffened, then responded in a gruff voice, "Just some trash. What are you doin' here, young lady?"
"Oh, just kicked myself out of a Christmas party," Susie said, "And you?"
The skunk was about to respond, but was interrupted by more questions. "Why aren't you inside with your family, having dinner and such? Is taking out the trash more important?" Susie gave a wicked smirk to the skunk, expecting him to cower in fear. Indeed, the skunk started to sweat, his red eyes darting around as he searched for an answer.
"Eh, don't bother answering," Susie interrupted again with a frown. "I know what you did. You stole the Christmas presents from that party I was just in." The skunk's eyes widened when he realized that his cover had been blown. Susie continued: "I'd honestly congratulate you for your villainy..." she put a hand on the skunk's trembling shoulder, "... but, you're on the naughty list. So here's your present..."
Suddenly, with a swift, jerking movement, Susie slammed the skunk into a nearby wall. The skunk let out a yelp of pain and fright. "Merry Christmas, Grinch," she hissed. "Hope this is one you'll never forget." Just then, the skunk reached into his pocket and quickly threw down what looked like a black smoke bomb with a white stripe in the middle.
As the bomb touched the ground in front of her, Susie was engulfed in a puff of smoke. The stench was terrible; it smelled like a swamp of rotten eggs and dead fish. She coughed and waved her free hand as an effort to clear the smoke. But as it did, she realized that the skunk was no longer in her grip. Alarmed, she looked around.
The skunk was now on top of the school roof, his sack hoisted onto his back. How did he get up there?!
The skunk gave Susie a sheepish but mischievous salute, then attempted to escape as he parkoured away onto other buildings.
Susie stood there for a moment, shocked. But as she realized that the thief was getting away, she grunted and clenched her fists. "You get BACK here!" she barked as she ran after him.

(For those who want audio: at this time, you may play the YouTube video in the background as you read. :3)

The pursuit was more frustrating than Susie thought. The skunk started throwing more smoke bombs at her from above, leaving an unpleasant smell throughout Hometown. However, in his distraction of throwing bombs, he ended up falling off the side of a building. He scrambled up and continued to dash when he saw that Susie was catching up to him.
Unfortunately for the skunk, he reached a dead end in an alleyway. I've cornered my prey, Susie thought with a smirk. From behind, she relentlessly grabbed him by the collar of his coat.
"Now you are REALLY in for it, filthy rodent!" Susie growled. But before she could do anything to the skunk, he stuttered, "D-Dude! Give me a chance to explain myself!"

(At this time, you may pause the audio from the YouTube video. It just doesn't match from this point on. XD)

"And why are you tell me this just now?" Susie frowned.
"Because I was intimidated by your first appearance," the skunk furrowed his eyebrows, despite the circumstance he was in.
If Susie was pondering about what to do with this guy, she didn't show it. After a while of silence, however, she dropped him, making him faceplant. "Fine. I'll give you five minutes to explain yourself," she said.
The skunk got up and sighed in relief, but as Susie shot an impatient glare at him, he began to speak. "OK, so you know how I stole those presents, right?"
"Mhmmm," Susie responded sarcastically.
"OK, so yeah, I stole the presents 'cause it's Christmas time and I gotta give presents to my buddies. But I'm broke, ya see? But then again, it's Christmas and my friends can be pretty demanding... they're poor too. So I went off into this small town to... 'buy'... stuff." The skunk ended sheepishly, scratching his beanie-covered head. There was an awkward silence.
After a long pause, Susie responded blankly. "... Oh."
She then paused again to give the situation a little thought. The skunk did admit to stealing the presents, but it was for his friends, who were living in poverty like he was. He was just trying to lift their spirits by getting them gifts that they cannot afford.
Susie gradually felt worse about attacking him. Hurting others won't help anything. And besides, nobody deserves to be slammed against a wall on Christmas. But nothing hurt more than to see through the skunk's red eyes. Susie can see weariness, confusion, and fatigue in them. Poor guy, Susie thought with a sullen look. Suddenly, distant yelling from the direction of the church snapped her out of her thoughts.
"we hearz nOIz! what wuz nOIz?!?!!1!" Temmie's awkward voice rang out. Susie turned to see just about everyone from the party running to her and the skunk.
"Yo, it smells here!" Monster Kid coughed.
"Ah, the brat decided to take her anger out on someone!" Berdly screeched in horror as Noelle scowled at him.
"Susie, we're so sorry about earlier!" Noelle panted. "Are you alright?"
"Heh, yeah. I just found the real..." Susie started, but her voice trailed off as she looked at the scared skunk. She hated to admit it, but she felt sorry for the guy. So, she did something absurd.
"Hey, I'm sorry about snatching the presents earlier," she sighed, trying to look as guilty as she could. She knew her classmates bought it, because they all gasped.
"She admits it!" Berdly exclaimed.
"No she wasn't, ya see, I was the one who stole them!" the skunk yelled.
Everyone stared at him in silent shock.
"tem sawz!!! datz the one!!!!" Temmie confirmed, looking at him.
"See, here." He took out his sack and emptied it of its contents. The presents slid out. "Sorry, OK? You can have them back," the skunk sighed, looking down.
"I'm very confused, right now!" Jockington said in his same cool voice, although his expression was worried.
"Yo, can someone explain what really happened?" Monster Kid asked.
"Fine. So, apparently, my doppelgänger stole the presents because he wants to give them to his own friends and they're all poor," Susie explained plainly.
The skunk gave an embarrassed look. "Don't sweat, I'll find presents elsewhere. And buy them, of course! Maybe I can sell my—"
"You can keep my present," Kris spoke up quietly. Everyone turned to him. Seeing Noelle made Kris feel guilty, so he added, "If that's alright with you..."
"I-I don't mind," Noelle replied. "I'll just make you another present."
"Yo, I hope you don't mind making another one, because I'm letting him take my present too," Monster Kid said firmly.
"Same," Catti joined in. She wasn't on her phone this time.
"Take mine. At least, if I had one in the first place," Susie added. It's not like I deserve a present anyways.
"tem tooz!1!" Temmie blurted out.
Soon, almost everyone had allowed the skunk to keep their gift. Of course, Noelle didn't mind making more presents for everybody. Berdly didn't say anything, so his classmates looked at him expectantly.
"Fine, have it," he finally grumbled. "It won't affect my overall grade anyway."
The skunk's ruby eyes filled with grateful tears. "Guess kids aren't so bad after all," he replied. Despite the strange remark, everyone felt a warm joy that surrounded them.