Like Father Like Son [ROTTMNT]

Chapter Eight: Game, Set, Match

Leo woke up with a start, his head snapping in the direction of the light spilling into the dark room and over him. He squinted, blinking a few times, and struggled to get to his feet when the usual guard stepped into the cell. After a few times of being woken up by his only source of water being dumped all over him, he was leery to allow himself to lower his guard around the horned yokai. But why was he here so early? He was certain it wasn't anywhere near mealtime.

And then two other guards followed him in, Leo remembered what day it was, and his heart sank down into his stomach.

Oh no.

"Don't be causing any trouble this time," the normal guard snorted. He had definitely held a grudge since Leo had locked him in the cell. "We won't be so lenient after this."

"Don't bother," the other guard, a tiger, responded. He was larger, clearly part of the muscle that ran the Battle Nexus. "After today he'll be too tired to do much of anything from what I've heard. Besides, you heard Big Mama. Gus is out and about for today." His tail flicked, and he crossed his arms. "Might as well come along obediently or you won't be in any shape to put up a fight at all," he added pointedly to Leo.

Leo balked and backed up, shaking his head slightly. The guard snorted.

"All right, come on," the third, a penguin with ridiculous eyebrows, ordered, jabbing a finger at Leo. Unlike the other two, who wore gold shoulder armor and green waist aprons, he was clad in the same purple suit that Big Mama's inner circle wore. Despite his smaller size, it was apparent who was in charge here. "Out with you."

Leo swallowed before he hesitantly stepped out of his cell, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the better lit hallways. He hadn't left that room since Big Mama's goons had tossed him back inside after their last meeting. He squinted, stumbling slightly as he was shoved forwards, the guards closing in with the penguin in front and the others on either side. They didn't say anything else, but their message was clear enough.

There would be no escaping from this.

He was a fool, he thought as he watched his feet take one step after another. Surely there was some weak spot, some angle of possible escape that had come and gone while Leo had wallowed in the dark. He was supposed to be smarter than this. He had thought he was smarter than this.

You're slower to catch on than I would have thought.

"We're here," the penguin said, stopping so abruptly that Leo almost crashed into him. Leo startled and glanced back up, his eyes widening as he took in a well-lit room with a dome-shaped ceiling. A large trifold mirror sat in the middle of the room, with two blue shelves on either side filled to the brim with weapons and armor. Leo peered in, confused, and glanced back over his shoulder at his guards.

"You get two items from the right," the tiger said, examining his claws. His tail flicked again. "Those are for the fresh meat."

Leo hesitated, but his usual yokai guard spoke. "Argh, ya get five minutes," he snapped. "Do ya want to get tossed in with jus' your bare hands? Because we can do that."

It was enough to convince Leo to move, over to where the right wooden rack with the clearly more heavily used equipment was. His eyes roamed over the many rusty shields and bright green pauldrons- perhaps the common gear for fighters here?- mentally marking them unnecessary. He had a shell, after all. The expectation was probably one weapon and one piece of protective gear, but he knew that more protection would just slow him down. He had never used it when fighting before and now was not the time to try and test it out.

There were no odachis, unfortunately, and Leo bit his lip. An axe or hammer was out of the question for his fighting style, as were the western swords, unless he was left with no other choice for that last one. With the different points of balance, he didn't doubt that he would let go of the sword or something equally stupid with the western model.