Hey everyone!

First off, I wanted to thank you all for the support I've received with this story so far! I'm so glad so many of you like it; I honestly didn't think that this story would be so well received, but I'm glad to have been proven wrong! As a special thanks, I'm posting the next two chapters today, September 18th, for you all to enjoy!

Again, thank you all so much for your support, and enjoy the chapters!

The Rematch and The Hole

"Seven… eight… nine… ten," Ethan muttered, currently bent over towards the ground, stretching his limbs out. Breathing slowly, he moved to the next position, restarting the count at zero.

The teen often found himself bored most of the time, even with his books back, and exercising was a way of making sure he stayed flexible and strong for when he eventually went home. Coach would kill him if he came back unable to hold his weight on the horizontal bars or rings. While he would have preferred being able to practice on actually gymnastics equipment, at least he was doing something to stay active in the relatively small cell.

He had now been a prisoner in Toad Tower for about three weeks, and had mixed feelings about the whole situation. On one hand, being a prisoner and sleeping in a cold and dank cell was not fun, and being jeered at by the occasional guard did not make things better. However, he had a roof over his head when it rained, three meals a day [he was starting to get used to the bugs], and while he would not admit it out loud, it was kind of cool being a prisoner to anthropomorphic toads. Sure, he would have preferred being held hostage by aliens, but the warty and grimy toads were not human, meaning that the teen could not help but be interested in them.

Ethan noted that they acted human; they had friends, families, inside jokes, jobs, and regular skills that aided them in their daily lives. He heard the guards talking with one another outside his cell, and if he closed his eyes, it was easy to imagine that they were human. However, they were still toads, given the fact that they occasionally shot out their tongues to eat a fly or bug out of mid-air. They croaked when they were upset, and their eyes could glow in the dark [he had no idea if toads in his world could do that, but it was both cool and creepy at the same time].

The human also noticed that the toads themselves were a rough-and-tough group of individuals, and not just because they were soldiers in an army. Some evenings, the toads gathered in the courtyard to fight one another, much like the times that allowed Ethan to escape earlier, but this one involved bets placed with money and was more of a leisure activity compared to training. Also, toads got more injured in this one, given that there were several medics on standby. The teen found himself rooting along with the toads, trying to guess who would win.

As he observed the various toads, Ethan started to compare some of them to characters from Dune, just for fun. He himself was Paul Atreides, the main character who was good at observing others [it was easy for him to listen and observe when he had nothing else to do]. One particular toad named Torlag, who was a hulking blue toad who often won his fights, was Gurney Halleck, since both were skilled at fighting and could be very loud and easily offended at times; the only difference was that Torlag disliked the human prisoner, and Halleck was Paul's friend. Braddock, a female toad who often came to bring him meals, was like Jessica, Paul's mother, mainly because she treated him kindly and acted in an almost motherly way towards him.

Captain Grime, of course, was the villain, Baron Harkonnan; both were cruel, selfish, power-hungry, and bulky. Of course, Grime was not as bad as the Baron, but the toad was clearly evil; between the one eye and the evil grin, it was clear that he was not someone Ethan wanted to cross. It was always nerve-racking when the captain came in for the occasional interrogation, but so far, it was mainly Grime trying to trip him up into revealing that he was a spy by asking him various questions about the human world. The teen liked to pretend it was a game, making sure that he didn't say anything that would brand him as a spy while simultaneously trying to impress/intimidate the toad army leader with human stuff.

Ethan finished his exercises, standing up and going to the barred window, looking out at the swamp landscape before him. This world, or at least the part of it he could see, was actually beautiful; a mountain range went off in one direction, but a forested swamp land took up most of the scenery. The moon in the sky was red at night, and the temperature was a pleasant 72 degrees fahrenheight [by his estimate] most of the time. Large bugs sometimes flew by his window, and while they were terrifying, they had a beauty to them, now that they were big enough for him to notice the tiny details of their wings and skin. He took out his phone, which still had some battery to it, and took a picture of the scene outside; it was getting dark, meaning the fights would begin soon.

The door opened behind him, and Ethan turned to see two guards, Irk and Mindy, walk into the room, approaching the bars of his cell.

"Inspection," Mindy said, taking a key from her belt. "You know the drill."

"Got it," the teen said, walking over to a wall, facing it with his hands up like he was about to go through the TSA. He heard the cell open as the two toads entered. Irk started poking through his backpack for anything out of the ordinary as Mindy frisked him, checking for any hidden utensils or bricks. They did this at least once a day day at random times so that he had no time to hide anything, and while it was annoying, it had become to routine for him.

"What're you gonna ask Grime if you win," Mindy asked her friend. "I'm gonna ask for some new armor; mine's getting kinda shabby."

"I'm gonna ask for a promotion," Irk said, dumping the human's pencils and schoolwork onto the cell floor. "Maybe be a leader of a platoon. Sounds nice." Mindy finished checking the teen, walking over to help the guard look through his backpack's contents.

"May… May I ask what you're talking about," Ethan asked cautiously, still standing by the wall.

The two toad looked at him before exchanging amused looks. "An' why should we tell ya, Creature," Irk asked. "Ain't none of your concern!"

"I know… just curious, I guess."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell ya," Mindy said. "Once a month, Captain Grime agrees to fight anyone that challenges him. If the challenger wins, they can ask him for any favor, and he's gotta grant it. It's been months since someone last won, and that was Bog; he got promoted to Tax Collector."

"But ya can't ask for his job or ask him to execute anyone," Irk added. "Has to be somethin' manageable."

"Really," the teen asked, a crazy idea forming in his head. "So… you challenge him and he has to say yes?"

"Don't got stuff like that in your world," Irk asked condescendingly.

"Not really. What happens if the toad loses?"

"The Captain decides what happens to them," Mindy said solemnly, the two guards standing up, satisfied that there wasn't anything illegal in the cell. "Most usually get sent to the Pain Room."

"The what," the human asked.

"Torture chamber," Irk said simply. "Some get a couple minutes, some get an hour; depends on how well they impress him." He closed the cell door behind them, locking it once more. "But I'm gonna beat 'im this time!"

"You said that the last four times," Mindy muttered.

"Shuddup," he snapped as they left the room. "You'll see; Grime's goin' down tonight!" The door shut behind them, and the sound seemed to cement the idea that was now present in Ethan's head.

"Yes… yes he is," he muttered.

[][][]

Later that night, the toad army was assembled in the courtyard in front of Toad Tower, and there was a certain excitement in the air. Because of the high risk of injury and low chance of winning, about twenty toads had challenged Captain Grime; most toads would rather watch than be carried off on a stretcher. There was always a rush to see who would go last, after the Captain was tired from the previous fights so their chances of winning were better, so they drew lots to see what order the challengers went in.

It was on these nights that the soldiers were reminded of Grime's fighting abilities, as well as why he was the Captain. The fights had no armor and no weapons besides fists and tongues, and the toad used both to his full advantage, attacking with exact accuracy, taking down most of his opponents within a minute. Some soldiers lasted longer, actually getting close to beating him, but all were defeated in the end.

"Pathetic," the leader of the toads yelled, wiping some sweat from his brow as Torlag was carried away by some of his friends, whimpering like a wounded animal. "And to think that I thought some of you might actually surprise me! Are there any other challenges?"

None of the toads spoke up, most of them avoiding eye contact with the Captain. He waited for a few moments, and was about to order everyone to bed when someone yelled -

"I challenge you, Captain Warthead!"

A few gasps came from the crowd, along with some confusion, since the call came from somewhere above them. They looked up, finally seeing two gangly arms sticking out of the barred window near the top of the tower. Grime glared up at the cell, secretly impressed with the Creature's bravery. It was idiotic, but bravery nonetheless.

"You dare challenge me, Creature," the captain yelled, unable to see the teen that well. "And what makes you think that I'll allow you to do so?"

"I heard anyone could challenge you," Ethan yelled back down. "Last time I checked, there was no rule excluding prisoners from other worlds!"

Captain Grime laughed, his soldier watching the exchange with a mixture of awe, confusion, and fear. "And let me guess… if you win, you would request that I free you?"

"Of course!"

"But you understand that if you lose… the consequences are severe. I think you've seen what happened to the others that tried to beat me tonight."

"I know. But what have I got to lose?"

He is either incredibly brave, incredibly stupid, or both, the toad thought, wondering what kind of creature would, after being beaten before, come back for another round.

"Well I think-" He paused, turning to his army. "Can someone bring him down so I don't have to shout," he yelled, and two toads quickly ran towards the Tower. A few minutes later, they walked back out, the human standing between them, looking almost at ease.

"Wow," Ethan said, taking a deep breath of air. "It's been a while since I've been outside!"

"So you have a death wish," Captain Grime said, waving the guards away as he approached the human. "You know I can't allow you to leave; if you're a spy, you could be going back to warn your kind about us and plan an attack."

"Again, I'm not a spy, Captain," Ethan said, trying his best to look confident as he felt the eyes of every toad soldier on him. "And if I had a way home, I would have gone back long before. I just wanna go home, plain and simple, and any chance that would mean I get to go home, I'll take."

Grime could not help but be impressed by the creature's words. He must have spent hours thinking of what he would say for this moment, and had probably prepared for any question he might ask. He as a Captain was also trapped by his army; if he refused to fight this human, he would look cowardly, and, if the human won the fight, he would lose their respect. So he was left with only one choice.

"I accept your challenge, human," the toad said. "But if you lose, and you will, then you will go into the Hole."

A few gasps of shocks and whispering ran through the army, and the soldiers exchanged scared looks.

Ethan's confidence wavered. "What… What's the Hole," he asked.

"It is a part of the Pain Room," the captain explained. "It is the most painful torture we have in our possession; so much so, no toad can last more than two minutes inside. If you lose, you will go in there for three." More gasps, and a few toads actually gave frightened cries. "Do you accept these terms?"

The teen stared back at the mismatched eyes of the toad captain, thinking over the situation. He, like Grime, found himself in a trick situation; if he refused, he would become more of a mockery, and would probably never be free. If he fought… the Hole did not sound nice, so all he could do was try to win.

'I must not fear,' the teen thought. Then, steeling himself, he said -

"I accept."

[][][]

Five minutes later, Ethan was surrounded by a circular waist-high temporary fence, facing Grime, who stood some ten feet away. Crowded around them was the toad army, the soldiers watching with an unnatural quietness. Knowing that the stakes were high, the teen readied himself, stretching his limbs while going through the Litany Against Fear in his mind:

I must not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.

"You know the rules, I believe," Grime asked, cracking his knuckles. "You've probably been watching the other fights all evening."

"First person to be knocked unconscious, yield, or be pinned for four seconds loses," the human answered. "No weapons; if you leave the fenced area you automatically lose, and no outside help is allowed. Did I miss anything?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself." For a second, the captain sounded almost friendly, as if they were about to play a game of chess, but the harsh and determined look he gave the human moments later made Ethan remember who this was. "Ready?"

"Ready," Ethan repeated, getting in a fighting stance, fists held up.

Wind blew through the courtyard, ruffling a few banners that hung on the walls. It was a good thing no one attacked the Tower that night, since all the soldiers were too engrossed in the two fighters to pay attention to anything else.

Grime attacked first, shooting out his tongue at the human, figuring that it worked last time. The teen dodged it, running forward to attack, swinging his leg to kick him. The toad retreated his tongue, blocking the kick and punching the teen. Ethan grit his teeth, pushing the toad back, trying to knock him to the ground; he wasn't a good fighter, but the prospect of being freed gave him the courage to give it his all. The toad fell into a backwards roll, standing back up by the fence, pausing to think of strategy.

Taking the advantage, the teen ran forward, feigning right before attacking the left, trying to get in the blind spot of the toad. Captain Grime seemed to anticipate this running out of the way. His momentum carrying him forward, the teen did the only thing he could do, hoping that he wouldn't mess up. Jumping up, he used the top of the fence to propel himself into the air, flipping backwards and landing on his feet. He got a few gasps from the crowd, but only an unimpressed look from Grime.

"Fancy tricks won't help you now," the toad said to him.

"I disagree," the teen said, running forward, doing a quick handspring, throwing his lower torso forward and kicking the toad with all his strength. Grime flew back into the fence, nearly knocking it over, landing on the dirt ground. "Though I think you're messing with me; scared to fight dirty or try your best?"

The captain growled, hands clenched in fists at his side. "I'll show you dirty."

He jumped up, running forward with fists raised. Ethan raised his own, ready to dodge whatever attack the captain could throw at him. However, he was not expecting the toad to throw dirt in his eyes, blinding him. He swung at the toad, hitting only air, and felt someone kick his legs out from under him, making him fall. Knowing what would happen if he was pinned, he tried to get back up, but the toad tackled him, boot pressed on his throat, ready to break it.

"Stay down, human," Grime said, coming back into focus as Ethan blinked the dirt out of his eyes. "It will all be over-"

The teen punched him where the sun did not shine, cutting off his taunt and making him step away. He heard most of the crowd wince with sympathy, and the human scrambled to his feet, pressing his attack. He landed a few punches and a kick, driving the toad back towards the fence. Grime had a few attacks of his own, giving the teen a black eye at one point, to which the teen returned with a split lip. Both had bruises on their arms and chests, and both were starting to tire from the running and attacking.

"I have no plans on yielding," Ethan said, kicking the toad back into the fence.

One could cut the tension in the air with a knife, and the toad soldiers watched the fight, waiting with bated breath. The captain wiped some blood from his lip, giving him a steely look.

"Nor will I," he said, and spit at the teen, the saliva landing on the teen's shoulder.

Blinding pain raced through the human as he screamed and fell back onto the ground, trying to pull his shirt off so he could use the dry parts to wipe the spit off him. His skin felt like it was peeling off, and he could smell the sharpness of the acid. He did not notice the toad kneel down next to him, a boot on his shin as someone in the distance started to count to four. Ethan finally got his shirt off, wiping off his left shoulder, which continued to scream with pain.

"FOUR," someone yelled, and the crowd suddenly came alive, cheering and celebrating as the toad captain stood up, holding his hands in the air, celebrating his victory. The human, meanwhile, looked down at his shoulder, seeing the red and peeling skin that was exposed to the air.

Acid spit, he thought, a few tears welling in his eyes; part of it from the pain, the other from ruining his only chance to escape. How did I forget acid spit? I had everything else, and-

A pair of shadows fell over him, and he turned up to see two guards aiming swords at him. Grime walked up as well, a gloating expression on his face.

"Take him to the Hole," he ordered.

[][][]

Ethan was dragged into the Tower, several toads coming with backup because he kept trying to break free, not wanting to arrive at wherever they were going. Grime walked in front, silent and unresponsive to the curses the teen hurled at him. When they reached the Pain Room, he opened the door, leading the group inside.

It looked like a dungeon torture chamber from times of old; chains to hang toads by their hands were on the walls, along with several spiked maces and other weapons. There was a stretching machine, a twisting machine, and other wood and metal devices that would bring pain. They passed that, however, stopping by a small door outside the wall. A guard standing nearby saluted, opening the door with both hands. Bracing himself, the human looked inside to see… a small empty room, save for a single torch burning in the center of it.

"Throw him in," the captain ordered, snapping his fingers as a guard kicked Ethan in the back, sending him tumbling to the room. Wincing at his scratched palms, the human looked up in time to see him shutting the door, the room descending into darkness.

Ethan stood up, hitting his head on the low ceiling. Wincing, he sat back down, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the blackness. He could see a small sliver of light at the bottom of the door frame, but it was less that a centimeter high. Feeling around, he noticed that the door didn't have a handle, and started hammering on it.

"Hey! Let me out you son-of-a-bitch! You have no right to keep me in here, and I wanna rematch!"

"Three minutes," he heard Grime remind him through the door, his voice slightly muffled. "I would save my strength if I were you."

"You better let me out right now you ugly, evil motherf-"

A small scuttling sound came from behind him, and he whirled around, heart pounding in his chest. He could not see what it was, which only made him more scared.

"I take from your silence that you just heard the first of what will soon be many sources of pain," the toad captain said, and the teen could almost see the cruel smile on his face. "There will be hundreds, if not thousands pretty soon; they only come out when it's very dark. Don't worry, they won't kill you, but most toads would rather die than go back in there a second time."

"'I will n-n-not fear,'" Ethan quoted in a whisper, shivering in the cold room, trying to keep his nerves in order as he sought comfort in the words of his favorite book. "'F-Fear is the m-m-mind-killer. I will f-face my f-fear. I will l-let it pass-'"

Something crawled onto his leg and pinched him, biting through the jean material and aggravating his old knife injury. He screamed, limbs flailing as he backed into the door, hearing more scuttling noises coming from around him. Remembering his phone, he took it out and turned on the flashlight, aiming it at the other end of the room.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of centipedes were pouring out of cracks in the walls and ceiling, like something out of a horror movie. Each was about the size of his finger, yet had pincers on them the size of a dime. Ethan had no idea if centipedes normally had pincers, or if just the ones here did, but he gave a shrill scream as they started towards him, crawling up his legs and towards his shirt. They immediately started to pinch him, and the phone fell to the ground, the flashlight casting shadows on the walls.

"No No NO," Ethan screamed, trying to brush the bugs off of him and failing, since there were too many to get rid of. Some started biting his fingers, making him recoil, and others were now up to his neck, making him twist around. "I WILL NOT FEAR! WHEN THE FEAR IS GONE THERE WILL BE NOTHING!"

"Take him back to his cell when the time is up," Captain Grime ordered, walking away from the door. He was tired from the fights, and deserved a good night's rest. Behind him, the human let out a guttural scream that echoed through the Tower, which was cut off as the centipedes reached his mouth.

This was a fun chapter to write, giving Ethan a chance to fight Grime again, as well as show what I think the Pain Room mentioned in the show features. Too bad he lost though, and the Hole isn't exactly a good place to find oneself in.

Follow/Favorite if you like the story, and feel free to leave a review! Have a great day!

-aggiefrogger

Note: I do NOT own Amphibia or Dune or the Litany Against Fear at all.