The Queen's Justice - Book 2 of Her Majesty

Chapter 2

"Good morning, Darlings," Mettaton greeted them with a smile. He was still in his humanoid form, looking immaculate despite being on the surface almost as long as them. This was thanks both to Alphys keeping an eye on his maintenance, as well as his staying in the adjacent suite to theirs - which meant free electricity to charge with at any time.

Alphys smiled at him, and Undyne smirked. While Undyne wore her Empress robes (that were finally cleaned; it took hours to try and clean them in the hotel, and when Laurel found out, she took them and washed them at her house in her washing machine, which did the trick), Alphys wore black slacks and her best shirt, one that Mettaton, himself, had picked out: it was dark green and V-necked, with elbow-length sleeves and a kind of material that looked loose while still flattering.

She liked it fine, especially if she put her labcoat over it, but she would always miss her favourite dress; it had been ruined when she'd been shot, and not even Laurel's washing machine could get the bloodstains out.

"Ah!" Mettaton grabbed Alphys's hands, shocking her back into reality. "You're wearing the shirt! You look gorgeous, my dear!"

She went crimson, especially when he grabbed her and hugged her tight, so tight that he lifted her off her feet in his glee, wiggling her a little. All she could do was squeak at this.

"Diva," Undyne growled, tapping her finger on his shoulder. "Stop manhandling my fiancée, please."

He pouted and paused. "But she's so pretty!"

"You think I don't know that?" she answered, raising her eyebrows.

"Stop!" Alphys finally managed to get out. "I'm not pretty, please put me down, I'm having trouble breathing!"

Mettaton immediately let her go, and she coughed, a hand to her chest.

"You hug way too hard!" she added, glaring at him.

"I hug from love!" he replied, tossing his hair back from his eyes with a grin. "Are you both ready? We get to see the mayors today!"

"We?" Undyne snorted. "Mettaton, we're bringing you along for support, not to actually talk to anyone."

"But I'm so suave, oh petulant empress."

"Never use that word again," she answered, making him pout.

Then he paused. "Which word?"

Undyne eyed him for a moment, then said, "Whichever one you're thinking, stop it."

Mettaton glared at her. "I think we hang out too much. You're getting too clever for me."

Undyne returned the glare and opened her mouth, but Alphys jumped in between them and said, "A-anyway, c-can we get going? We don't want to be late!"

This was true, so they called a temporary truce and headed out.

The first thing that happened when they got there was an assault on their eyesight: cameras, dozens of cameras flashing in their direction as they got out of the city car and headed towards City Hall.

Undyne tried her best to ignore them, but it was clear she was failing when she pulled Alphys to her and held her under her arm, not once letting go. Alphys understood; she would be lying if she didn't admit to feeling comforted and protected by this. She also moved closer to Undyne, slipping an arm around her slim waist and keeping close.

Mettaton walked behind them, posing for the cameras, true, but not in his usual way. Rather, it was clear to both Undyne and Alphys that it did it to distract the humans from them, and keep all focus on him, instead. He did this every time they went out and there was press, and every time it turned out to be a great thing, as he truly did keep the humans from taking too many pictures of them.

Alphys hated it. She hated that the simple act of walking to City Hall caused such an uproar amongst the humans. Granted, it had only been three weeks, so of course they were still quite the novelty to the humans, but it still bothered her. She especially didn't like it, because she worried about Undyne, who always developed a twitch to her eye if it lasted too long.

She was so glad that Mettaton was with them, despite the teasing they gave him. She would make sure to tell him, later.

Once they were finally inside, Undyne turned around, scowled at the crowd, held up her hand, and gave them the pearl.

Alphys squeaked and grabbed her hand, covering it with her own before anyone could see it - or take pictures of it - but Undyne seemed satisfied, anyway, and she smiled. Instead, she grabbed Alphys's hand and held it, then looked down at her with that same smile, something she couldn't resist returning.

"Well, that was fun," Mettaton confessed with a wide grin.

Undyne glared at him, and he laughed in reply. "Just shut up and go sit down, you stupid blowdryer."

He made a mock-bow at her. "Yes, oh esteemed Empress of salt."

She took a swing at him, but he was took quick, and she missed. He laughed all the way to the main meeting hall, something they heard, even when the doors closed behind him.

Undyne exchanged a look with Alphys, who smiled. She couldn't explain Mettaton's excitement for things like this, because she didn't understand it, herself. She pegged it down to his being happy to get the attention and the media coverage, as he certainly got both. The humans adored him, and especially found it wonderful when they discovered he came with his own product line.

"Shall we?" Undyne then said, holding out her arm.

Alphys nodded and took it, and together, they went to the other entrance, the one that would bring them to the front of the house, and not to the seats.

Asgore was already there, but sans was not. When asked, Asgore explained that sans had "something-or-other" to do Underground and wouldn't be able to make it. Undyne shrugged it off, but Alphys filed it away for later; it was unusual for sans to miss something like this, after all.

What could be more important than this?

Alphys decided to ask later, instead focusing on the here-and-now.

Now, the mayors.

They were a formidable bunch, even with Cathy sitting with them. But then, Cathy was also formidable; she was only less so because the monsters had had the time to get to know her.

These other mayors, well... They were intimidating, at least for Alphys.

Undyne, however, looked them over calmly, one eyebrow rising higher and higher with each one. Alphys was far more nervous with her assessment, and tried to keep it as covert as possible, just in case they saw her looking.

The first one was male, with light brown skin and very long black hair tied in a shiny plait. He was thin, slightly muscular, and had a kind face, though at the moment he looked very sombre.

The second one was also male, with darker brown skin and very shot curly grey-black hair, with a moustache, and he was a little heavyset but carried it well.

The third was female, with a lighter brown skin and straight black hair to her chin, and she was tall and plump, with glasses.

The last was female, too, and she had honey-coloured skin, her hair covered by a brightly-coloured headscarf, and she was small, like Cathy.

All five of them together made Alphys think of a wall of strong wills, one that would be almost impossible to even make a dent in, and she suddenly feared they would fail in front of them.

All four of the mayors looked at Alphys and Undyne in surprise; clearly, seeing them online or on TV was far different than seeing them in person. It was clear that they were not human - especially Alphys - and were monsters. The realisation seemed to dawn on all four, though Cathy spared them a moment and gave them a tiny smile, one that vanished the moment one of her co-workers caught sight of it.

Laurel was seated with Asgore in front of the mayors, and it was clear that that was where Undyne and Alphys were supposed to sit, too. Together, holding hands, they walked over and sat beside Asgore, and Laurel gave them a warm smile, while Asgore touched each of their hands in greeting and also smiled at them. These gestures helped Alphys calm down a great deal, it must be said.

"Welcome, Empress Undyne, and you, Doctor Alphys," Cathy began, and immediately everyone went quiet. "Now that you're here, we can begin."

She paused, then looked directly at Undyne. "I have given everyone here a copy of the Papyrus Pact, and they have all had the time to read it over and ruminate over it. Now, one by one, they will give you their opinion, and we will go from those suggestions and move forward."

She looked to the first mayor, the man with the long braid. "Mayor Tagaq?"

The man nodded without smiling, sitting up and adjusting a few pieces of papers in front of him. He looked at Undyne for a moment, then at Alphys, before looking at Laurel - then finally back to Undyne, which pleased her.

"First of all, welcome to the surface," Mayor Tagaq said, his voice pleasant and kind. "Though Ebott may be used to tales of you living underground, we certainly weren't, and we found it a surprise. However, you are here, now, and you are asking for the right to remain here, something that has been denied to you for the sole reason of being monsters, and for reasons that occurred long before any of us in this room were even born."

Asgore coughed at this; he was the only one old enough to remember those times.

"Ah, except you, King Asgore," Tagaq added hastily.

"Please," he replied gently, holding a hand up. "Just Asgore. Or, if you must, Lord Asgore."

"Sorry, thank you." The human cleared his throat, then went on. "I read over your proposal, Empress," he said, looking at Undyne again. "And I honestly have to say, it's reasonable. It's very reasonable. I wouldn't hesitate to approve it. You have my vote."

Cathy stared at him in shock; clearly she hadn't been anticipating that at all. She quickly hid the look, but he'd seen it, and shot her a smirk that he also had to quickly hide.

None of this was lost on the monsters, however, and both Alphys and Undyne exchanged a look of amusement.

"Thank you. How about you, Mayor Frankson?" Cathy asked the second man, the one with the moustache.

He cleared his throat, raising his bushy eyebrows. "Well," he said, his voice slow and relaxed. "A great deal of what you say in this Pact of yours, it's not so bad. But what you're asking for will take at least a year, and that's being as optimistic as I can be. I want to say yes, with a but, and that but is: be realistic when it comes to time, Empress. You can't expect this sort of thing to happen in a year. Not completely, anyway."

Undyne's cheeks went pink, but she nodded.

He smiled at her, then. "You're young, but you've got guts, and I really like that. I think you're going to be fun to work with."

Cathy stared at him, her face red, now. "Um," she stammered, before she got a hold of herself. "Thank you, Mayor Frankson."

Undyne's hand tightened around Alphys's. She couldn't help it. This was a lot better than she'd ever planned, even hoped for. Alphys smiled at her and squeezed back, and she relaxed a little, though her eye stayed on the people before her.

"Mayor Ng?" Cathy said next.

Mayor Ng sighed, leaning back. Of them all, she was clearly the youngest, and it showed. "You know, when I heard about this, and you, Empress, I was confused. I was so sure this was just a joke that some film industry had thrown at us to promote some new sci-fi movie. But then I actually saw you, saw you for real - and that was when your girlfriend got shot."

Undyne bit her lip, but she didn't interrupt. Alphys blushed and looked down, but she also kept silent.

"You were real to me, then, because you were showing real emotion. You reacted in a way a real person would. You clearly cared about the people around you, and wanted to make sure that we understood, and cared, too."

Ng adjusted her glasses a little. "I was going to say no before I saw that, Empress; I'll just be honest with you. But now, it's a yes. It's a huge yes." She smiled to emphasise this.

Undyne relaxed again, nodding. She smiled in return.

"And finally, Mayor Radi?"

Mayor Radi smiled. "I think it's obvious where I stand," she replied. "But in case it is not, I'm familiar with being a social pariah, especially in this day and age. I will fight for anyone who suffers the same fate, especially unjustly. It's why I became mayor. You have my support, Empress."

"What the hell?" Cathy blurted out, before covering her mouth and blushing.

Then, she narrowed her eyes and said, "Wait, no, all four of you gave me such a hard time when I came forward with this! All four of you, especially you, Frankson! Why are you now all of a sudden so on board? What changed?"

"I cannot speak for everyone," Radi said, "but for me, it was for similar reasons as Mayor Ng: the shooting. The Empress showed emotion that was real, and I could not ignore that. We were all raised to believe monsters were unfeeling and only cared for death and destruction, no? Regardless of our backgrounds. But in that moment, we saw a monster weep, mourn, and beg for mercy."

The other three were nodding sombrely, and Frankson added, "Don't call me out, Awad, it's rude. I said it was unlikely that monsters could be civil no matter what. I've already eaten those words with a side of relish."

Undyne was frozen, now, her eye wide and her mouth open. She blurted out, "No, it can't be that easy, can it?"

And to her further confusion, that was greeted with gentle laughter, even from Asgore, who put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Apparently, my daughter," he said softly. "It can."