Patience was a trait rarely associated with Undyne; in fact, not even she herself considered herself the most patient person. Generally, when something needed to be done or spoken of, she would take action in those moments. On this rare occasion, she had bided her time. Over a month had passed since Frisk had departed from the Underground, and she suspected the girl may be gone for good. Perhaps that was for the best despite the hopeless monsters left in her wake.
Queen Toriel had been struggling with running the kingdom; she had required all hands on deck to help explain to the monsters what had happened to their beloved human…and why they ought not give up since all the souls were absent. Alphys had retreated into her lab without showing her face even once; Undyne dropped by frequently, often discovering disregarded grocery deliveries sagging by the door. No amount of pleading gained her entrance. If this had been anyone else, she would enter by force. But this was her best friend. If Alphys did not want to see her, then there was no point in compelling her presence.
The past few days elapsed with fewer conflicts than usual, leaving Undyne time to work a little less and roam around with her thoughts as companions. She could not bring herself to spend time with Papyrus, her other closest friend. He needed comfort and understanding as to why his new human friend had disappeared, and Undyne simply did not have the will to soothe him. She also could not find it in her to concoct placating fibs to tell either. For the second time in her life, Undyne felt immensely lost. And the person who had guided her through the first occurrence was nothing but dust now.
Gradually, a tempest of rage expanded within her. This no longer even had anything to do with Frisk; Undyne was aware that the human had not murdered Asgore. In the aftermath of their battle, she had rushed to the castle to discover the girl weeping over his dust. That child had traversed the Underground without lifting a finger to hurt anyone, and she certainly had not stolen the other human souls; Undyne had concluded that a third party must have been involved. Regardless, the fury inside her was directed at someone that happened to be alive and within reach.
The fish monster stormed deeper into the castle, her post at the entrance abandoned. Eventually Undyne rounded the corner of Asgore's former office, the one that she now wrongfully used. Without hesitation, the warrior kicked open the door despite it being unlocked. Toriel's head snapped up, eyes widening at the approaching person.
"What are – "
"Shut up!" Undyne growled, magical teal light gleaming beneath her eyepatch. "You get to answer for what you have done, Queen Toriel!"
"Calm down," the goat monster said in an infuriatingly calm tone of voice, standing her ground.
"No! You are gonna hear what I have to say, and then you are gonna leave!" she roared back. "I get that your kids died, but you abandoned King Asgore and monsterkind! And now, suddenly, you get to just come back and pretend everything's fine? You really think you can just take his place? YOU LEFT US! How dare you even bother showing your face! I've been playing your little game this long for the sake of the kingdom, but it ends right here, right now! It doesn't matter how much people like you – it matters that you have no right to be here! You have no right to waltz into people's lives after you left them!"
Do you know how Asgore has been, all these years? 'Cause I do! He worshipped you! You, who never even tried to understand him or help anyone! I caught him crying in this very room before numerous times, missing his kids and his wife! His wife, who gave up on him and monsterkind! His wife, who he loved. He had no family left, no one who could possibly understand him except you. You, who were hiding in your own self-pity! You, who –"
"Enough!" Toriel shouted, stunning Undyne into silence. "You have no idea why I left."
"Enlighten me then, your majesty," the other monster replied sardonically.
"Asgore declared war on all of humanity! He would have led us to our deaths if we succeeded in breaking the barrier. He was planning on slaughtering every child who fell into the Underground, even though we took one in as our own. I could not stand and watch, so yes, I left!" Toriel explained.
Undyne did not waste effort in trying to suppress her snort. "You couldn't stand and watch? You didn't have to! You could have helped him get past that, or changed his mind! Did you ever consider that he said all that in the heat of the moment? Trust me, people say things in the heat of the moment all the time and don't mean a single word!"
"Like right now?"
"No, not like now. The heat of the moment would have been when you first dared to show your face after all these years. I waited for the sake of other people, but now things have calmed down and it's time for you to drop your benevolent schtick and go back to wherever you came from."
"I am not leaving because of one person," Toriel retorted.
"Like you did before?" Undyne sneered. The queen flinched at that, cracks finally appearing her façade for the first time. "Look, I don't care where you go, so long as you go. Don't sit on his throne and pretend to belong here anymore."
"I – I…" she stammered, desperately wiping at her eyes as tears poured out.
Undyne did not back down at the emotional display. She could wait this out; she had before with other monsters. They all stopped crying at some point. Even if Toriel had begun feeling guilty, it did not change the facts. Unfortunately for the fish monster, the other one's sobs only increased in length and sound. Soon, her body was wracked with them and she crumpled into herself on the floor.
"You are right," Toriel sputtered suddenly, "I should not have left. I should not have left my husband or anyone else. But…but I can not leave now." She inhaled shakily, meeting Undyne's eye. "I have to…keep trying to maintain what little hope we have left now. If I – if I leave now, it will hurt even more for other monsters. To be abandoned again. I will not do that to them."
This was far worse than the shouting match. Undyne would have preferred Toriel to continue with her sanctimonious act – that would have fueled her own anger and sense of justice. But now, with her repenting, Undyne was at a loss on what to do. She did not want to seem heartless, though she did not want to seem weak either. A memory graced her mind at that moment.
This was her one chance. Her one chance to show everyone that being young did not make her feeble. Her one chance to show everyone that she was worthy of being taken seriously. Her one chance to prove her ambition to be greater than her shortcomings. Asgore would be visiting the school in Waterfall for the first time in a while, and there was no guarantee that he would visit again anytime soon what with the political turmoil that showed no sign of dissipating. And Undyne would be waiting for him.
Finally, after squatting behind scratchy shrubs for nearly two hours and missing most of her classes, the little fish monster spotted him greeting several school administrators and teachers near the entrance. She tapped impatiently on her cramped knees as he chatted with them for far too long in her opinion. After several more minutes wasted away, he began approaching the doors. Just when he was in reach of entering, Undyne sprang in front of him with the fiercest battle cry she could muster.
"Fight me!" she bellowed.
Undyne persisted in demanding he fight her as she leapt to and fro, vainly attempting to land a single hit on the king. Growling in frustration, she manifested a spear and tossed it at him with all of her strength. Asgore stepped out of the way with ease. All of the administrators and teachers had gathered, yelling at Undyne to stop, but she determinedly ignored them and summoned another magical spear. It missed again.
"Just fight me already!" she panted, unable to maintain her futile attacking.
"Undyne, stop at once!" the principal hollered, finally gaining a chance to step forward.
Asgore held up a hand. "Let her speak. This young one is in need of guidance." He cautiously approached the little girl, bending on one knee when she made no move to strike him.
"Why won't ya fight me?" she whined.
"Do you want me to teach you how to beat me?" he asked.
Undyne expected him to speak down to her condescendingly, especially after her inept performance, but his tone held naught but solemnness when he questioned her. "Yes."
"Fight me," Undyne demanded.
Toriel glanced up at her in bewilderment. She stared her down without moving, figuring that the queen may possibly be intimidated in her moment of sadness. Perhaps this was not the best way to go about confronting her, but Undyne had shoved her chagrin and frustration down for weeks and needed to do this.
"Why?" Toriel eventually inquired.
"You need to prove to me that you are capable of protecting other monsters," Undyne replied steadily, "and that you can face trials that come your way."
Another minute passed before the queen, eyes tapered into slits, said, "I accept your challenge."
A spear glowed into existence behind her, but Toriel held up her hand. "Let us make this public. That way, I will prove myself to both them and to you."
A half grin formed on the fish monster's face. "I like the way you're thinking."
The two agreed to spread the word of the occasion throughout the Underground. It would take place in New Home at a school field in which students usually practiced their bullet patterns. The space was substantial for their fight and lined with seats that were ordinarily occupied by parents and teachers. This time, however, they were overflowing with monsters of all sorts of professions. Even more teemed around them and resorted to standing. The former members of the Royal Guard attempted to hold order over the masses, though the attempt was short-lived. The dogs that had made up the disbanded Guard were overwhelmed by too many scents, and the rest of them found it too much to do without the canines' help.
Undyne drummed on the side of her leg as she waited for the announcement, but whoever was in charge of the task continued to babble about nonsense. She gave it a few more minutes before marching onto her side of the field, not caring that there was no official declaration for the competitors to do so. Toriel hesitantly approached from the opposite side, glancing over her shoulder in confusion. The announcer heeded the message and hastily informed them to begin.
Without missing a beat, Undyne immediately directed her spears to circle around Toriel and narrow in on her. She did not know what the other monster's attacks looked like, and curiously watched as fire branched out to destroy her own magic weapons. It did not matter; Undyne already had her next attack on the move, not bothering to wait for turns. This needed to be abnormal in order to show Toriel that unexpected things would pop up all the time. Definitely not because she was peeved at her. She knew better than to underestimate any opponent, but still felt a bit shocked when Toriel's fire magic was able to switch to the offensive so fast after her double attacks.
They exchanged assaults for several minutes before Undyne decided to pull one of her favorite tricks – turning someone's soul green. Toriel instantly halted where she stood, narrowing her ruby-colored eyes at the warrior. She was tossed a spear and forced to defend from all sides as numerous more spears assailed her. Growling in frustration after receiving a few hits, Toriel summoned a giant wave of fire to scorch them and hurled complex patterns of flame at Undyne. She felt her soul released from its green state, and darted forward. Undyne was still struggling to see through the smoke – Toriel's next pattern landed quite a few hits. She smirked, believing her victory had become imminent, when suddenly Undyne soared through the air in a high jump and tackled Toriel to the ground. She pointed a spear at her throat while a foot rested firmly on her torso. A sharp-toothed smile adorned her face, but rapidly faded at a lack of cheering. Several gasps were emitted, but not a single monster applauded her.
"Undyne," Toriel huffed, "you can let me up now. I recognize defeat when I see it."
With a grunt, Undyne stepped back as Toriel ascended to her feet.
"You fought remarkably," she said quietly. "I will return to my other home."
Before Toriel departed, Undyne called, "Wait." She suspected that she would regret this, but monsters truly did need hope. "You don't need to leave. I want you to step down from being queen, but you don't need to leave. People need hope, like you said."
This rendered the other monster silent for a long moment, her eyes wide at Undyne's words. "You do not want me exiled?"
"That's what I said," she responded, shoulders slumping. The audience's murmurs went silent as Undyne spoke up. "Everyone, this fight was to determine whose terms would overrule the other's. But…monsters need to have hope. Asgore would have wanted us to stick together. And so, Toriel will be stepping down. But she will stay."
An individual whoop was let out, and bit by bit was joined until all the crowds cheered in unison. Undyne was unsure of how to feel at that, but held out a hand to Toriel. She grasped and shook it firmly, looking directly at her. Undyne resisted the urge to twitch her eye.
"I believe you made a wise decision," Toriel relented, a smile tugging at her face. "Besides, I have always wanted to be a teacher far more than a ruler. Maybe you can help me open up my own school."
"Maybe," Undyne said.
The future was uncertain, but monsterkind had not lost hope. That was all that truly mattered at the moment.