Chapter 48

Papyrus and Frisk were soon in Undyne's training yard in front of her house ready to get to work.

"Alright, punk!" Undyne yelled while Papyrus stood on the sidelines ready to contribute when Undyne needed him. "Are you ready for the training of a lifetime?"

"I guess," Frisk said nervously.

"That's not good enough!" Undyne yelled. "How much do you really want this? Do you want to be strong enough to continue your journey? Do you want to increase your HP so you're back at full health? Do you want to get your Dad's mp3 player back?"

"Yes…"

"THEN SCREAM IT TOWARDS THE HEAVENS! LET ME KNOW THAT YOU WANT TO GET STRONGER AND YOU WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET IT! NOW, PUNK, ARE YOU READY FOR THE TRAINING OF A LIFETIME?"

"YES!" Frisk yelled as loudly as he could.

"That's it," Undyne said with a smile. "Now, hit me as hard as you can!"

Frisk's eyes flashed with panic as he asked, "What?"

"You heard me, punk," Undyne said. "Hit me right now as hard as you can. I want to evaluate your strength."

Frisk's eyes darted back and forth fearfully between Undyne and Papyrus. His heartbeat got faster, and bad flashbacks started coming to his mind.

"Frisk, are you…?" Papyrus started to ask.

"I can't do it," Frisk said quietly.

"What?" Undyne asked.

"I can't do it," Frisk said in a panic. "Every time I hit someone, they get hurt. I can't risk killing you."

"Don't worry, Frisk," Papyrus said walking behind him and putting his hand on his shoulder. "Your combat power is not as high as it was back then. You won't hurt Undyne."

"Yeah, kid," Undyne said with a smile. "I'll be fine."

Frisk saw her smile, took a deep breath, and said nervously, "Okay, I'll try."

"Okay, punk," Undyne said. "Show me what you've got."

He held his hand by his waist as his parents had taught him to, walked up to Undyne, and punched her as hard as he could. Frisk's heart dropped with the return of his nightmarish memories when he saw her HP go down by one point.

"Not bad, punk…" Undyne said feeling pleasantly surprised by his strength.

"I'M SORRY!" Frisk yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'm sorry! Please don't die!"

"Frisk, I'm standing right here. You haven't hurt me. It was only one hit."

"One hit was all it took before."

Undyne froze as she realized what he was talking about. Papyrus stood on the sidelines not knowing what to do while Frisk looked down, stared sadly at the ground, and started hyperventilating from the nightmare he was reliving.

As Frisk's breaths grew shallower and sharper, the memories grew clearer. He could see Undyne right in front of him. He could see her as the Undying. He could see her final smile...

Frisk's memory was interrupted as he slowly grew aware that Undyne had fallen on her knees and wrapped her arms around him.

"You don't need to go back there, punk," Undyne said as gently as she could. "Stay in the present. That's where we are."

Frisk hugged her back, and Papyrus knelt and hugged Frisk from behind. Slowly, Frisk's breathing grew deeper and he started to calm down.

When Frisk's breathing had returned to normal, his two friends finally let him go.

"I'm sorry," Frisk said. "I can't fight anymore. I can't do anything. I can't risk hurting anyone else, but I don't know how else to stop myself from getting killed. I mean, when I fought Aaron, I started a flexing contest to get his mind off fighting, but I still got hurt because I couldn't avoid all his attacks. I can't even create a save file or reset in case I die. What am I supposed to do?"

Papyrus didn't know what to say, but Undyne got an idea.

"It seems to me like you're afraid of danger, punk," Undyne said. "That is unacceptable for a royal guard and for you. You can't act if you get scared. We need to help you face your fears."

"How do we do that?" Frisk asked.

"Don't worry, Frisk," Undyne said with a big toothy grin. "I have a plan. Papyrus, do you know how to drive a boat?"

"Uh, not really…" Papyrus replied.

"Perfect!" Undyne yelled as she left her front yard. "Follow me, you two. We're going to rent some supplies."

"Oooh," Papyrus said excitedly as he and his little brother followed behind her. "Is this going to help Frisk get over his fears?"

"If this doesn't work, nothing else will," Undyne replied.

"What exactly are we doing, Undyne?" Frisk asked.

"What did I say about worrying, punk?" Undyne chided. "You'll be filled in once I get everything together."