One year had passed since Leo had left Cyber Dawn Cybernetics and Project Esper behind. He had left having fully regained his ability to walk. Dr. Kodah's success with Leo had earned him considerable renown and increased demand for his expertise, but he had insisted on overseeing Leo's case until the very end. The doctor had walked with him all the way to the facility's main entrance, shaking Leo's hand one last time before Leo turned and left on his own two feet, officially discharged.

It had been a strange moment, standing alone on the sidewalk with his life in his hands again. He'd paused to watch a jet fly overhead, and had stayed with his gaze turned up long after the jet was gone from view.

Leo hadn't travelled far. In fact, he hadn't even left Milvallen. The Milvallen Ministry of Justice had under its operations the Bureau of Public Safety and a training academy for potential recruits, which Leo ultimately decided to make his next destination.

For some time, he truly had considered re-enlisting in the marines, the promise of familiar friends and routine appealing to him. But deep down, Leo knew that moving on to a new career was the right choice- it almost felt wrong not to do so. And it wasn't as if he had to leave his old life behind entirely.

The night he made up his mind to stay in Milvallen, Leo had arranged a call with his friends from the USS Fallmont. They immediately launched into dramatics when he broke the news, lamenting that they'd miss having his pretty face around, and a few had earnestly asked if Leo was sure they couldn't change his mind. But Leo's position had remained clear, and his friends truly wished him the best, even if they'd never say it out loud. By the time the call had ended, any uncertainty had all but evaporated.

Leo had aced the entrance exams for the academy, to no-one's surprise; he'd had Max's help to study and prepare him for the physical portions. Max had remained a constant presence in Leo's life, even introducing Leo to his family- just as he'd promised he would. Ondine was wonderful, and received Leo with such kindness and warmth that he could hardly believe she was real. And Jeannie became like a best friend to him almost overnight. Some evenings, Leo even found himself over at the Caxton's household when Max wasn't home just to see the rest of the family, having grown equally as fond of their company as he had of Max's.

His year in the academy had held no shortage of challenges, but Leo persevered- even excelled. His new cybernetic legs had proven their worth over and over again, letting him go leagues beyond his former physical limits. And though there was still a slight tremor to his arms and hands, it wasn't significant enough to slow him down. Between Max's help and Leo's own determination, he had graduated from the academy at the top of his class, and was finally qualified to begin work at the Bureau of Public Safety.

Before Leo knew it, his first day on the job had arrived.

He stood waiting outside the Bureau's headquarters, shifting back and forth on his feet. Max was supposed to meet him and show him around. It wasn't Max's job to do so, but the man had insisted. Leo felt guilty for taking up so much of Max's time, but he found some comfort in knowing he could start to repay Max's endless kindness by making the most of his new Bureau career.

"Leo! You're early," Max's familiar voice called as he approached from behind. Leo turned to face him, grinning ear to ear.

"I woke up early. Guess I'm just excited."

Max shook his head teasingly.

"You've gotta learn to appreciate the little things, like sleeping in while you still can." Max walked past Leo towards the building, and Leo followed close behind. "Come on then, let's get started."

Leo had already been in the Bureau's headquarters a few times; Max had insisted on showing the place to Leo as part of his attempts to convince him to join. But Leo's access had been limited as a civilian, and those restrictions were no longer in place. They stopped briefly to exchange greetings with the two receptionists, whom Leo recognized from a previous tour, then Max led Leo past the security doors to the general offices.

"This is where you'll be working," Max explained as they walked. "City patrolling, helping with reports, that sort of stuff. You'll be shadowing other agents while you get used to things." Max led Leo up a few floors, commentating on each area's uses as they went, until they stopped at another set of security doors which Max led them through.

"This is where I work, the High Crimes Division."

Leo stared around in awe. He'd never been to this area before, and it amazed him. Every agent present, who all gave greetings to Max as they entered, was an elite individual beyond imagination. Most of them were top of the line cyborgs, and those few who were human wore high-tech suits and armour. This wing of the BPS was smaller compared to others, but the amount of power in this room alone dwarfed anything Leo had ever experienced in the military.

Max waved an agent over, a burly blonde man who looked like a walking generator.

"Leo, I want you to meet Nikolai. He and I are going to be working very closely together in the near future."

"It's nice to meet you," Leo extended a hand politely. Nikolai looked Leo up and down, then smirked and took his hand.

"Is a pleasure." His words were curt under a heavy Russian accent. "I finally meet the person Max has been talking so much about. Welcome to the force."

Leo shook his massive robotic hand firmly, then turned to Max. "What do you mean by working closely? Aren't you two already in the same division?" Max grinned.

"Yes, but there's more than that. Within the next year the High Crimes Division is launching a new team called Strike One. I'm going to be captain of it, and they're letting me head the recruitment process. Nikolai was my first choice."

"I see," Leo said. "That sounds like a massive honour."

"It is," Nikolai said proudly. "Strike One will be elite, best of the best, for special missions."

Leo nodded in understanding. "Well congratulations to both of you. I can't wait to see it in action."

Nikolai departed then, sparing one last glance at Leo. There was something Leo couldn't place in his expression. Almost like he knew something that Leo didn't, and found it funny.

Max watched him go, then clapped Leo on the shoulder. "He might seem a bit cold, but he's a good man. Come on, there's still lots to see."

Max led them out of the High Crimes Division and further into the building, far past what Leo had been allowed to see before. He was shown lockers, supply areas, armouries, holding cells; even the break rooms weren't left out of Max's grand tour.

Finally they stopped before a large set of double doors. "Here we are, last stop in the tour. This is our training area." Max led them inside a large room, filled to the brim with state-of-the-art equipment. Some of it Leo could recognize instantly; gym equipment, obstacle courses, basic things he had seen and used before. But there were also machines projecting holograms, miniature drones hovering idly, and some equipment Leo couldn't even begin to guess at the purpose of.

"Welcome to the Bureau's exclusive gym, if you will." Max gave a broad wave. "Everything you could ever want to learn about combat, from hand-to-hand to weapons operations, you can learn it here. That room in the back," Max motioned to another set of doors, "is the shooting gallery. We also have sparring rings, holographic training simulations, and these guys." Max pointed to a line of androids standing against the far wall. On cue one bowed to him respectfully and approached.

The android was human-sized, with reinforced limbs and a peculiar disk-shaped head. It shone with the same bright blue accents Leo had seen on many members of the Bureau.

"This," Max introduced, "is a Cybrid Joe. We use them as sparring partners, and they can teach you anything you want to know about hand-to-hand combat. Jiu-Jitsu, kickboxing, Judo; you name it, they know it. Best of all, they can help you learn Cybrid Arts."

"I've never heard of that one."

"Not unusual, it's pretty much exclusive to the Bureau. It's a relatively new fighting style, only been around for a few decades. It's designed to make the most of the tech cyborgs like us are equipped with. It's-"

"I'm not a cyborg," Leo cut him off.

"What was that?" Max turned to him, unbothered by the interruption.

"You said cyborgs like us, but I'm not a cyborg," Leo explained. "You have to have above a certain percentage of your body be mechanical, and I'm still below that threshold."

"Is that so?" Max regarded him curiously. "Well, you're still cyborg enough to get some use out of Cybrid Arts. What do you say, ready to learn something new?"

"Always," Leo grinned eagerly.

"Good, because this is your first assignment." Max led them over to one of the sparring rings. "You and the Joe are going to have a match to test your abilities. I want to see how far you've come." Max stopped on the other side of the ring and pulled up a holographic display. "I'm also going to be timing you to see how long you last."

Leo dropped his jacket on a nearby bench and took a moment to stretch. "You say that like I'm going to lose to this bot."

Max belly-laughed, loud enough to halt Leo mid-stretch.

"Leo, it's not a question of if the Joe will kick your ass, it's a question of how quickly. You're a rookie, remember? Cybrid Arts isn't something most people can stand up against." Leo bristled.

"I may be new to the Bureau, but I still have my Marine training, and I was damn good."

"Alright then," Max grinned, gesturing to the Joe. "Go ahead. Prove me wrong."

Leo squared his shoulders and stepped into the sparring ring, taking his position opposite the android. It took a fighting stance, and Leo matched it.

"Alright," Max called, "on my mark. Begin!"

The Joe wasted no time, charging instantly. Leo saw the punch coming and ducked out of the way; the Joe changed its attack, sweeping its arm down. Leo almost lost his balance and had to duck and roll, springing to his feet a few steps away and quickly putting some distance between them.

It was fast; faster than Leo had expected. It started throwing kicks, and he was forced to keep on the defensive, unable to find an opening or ground himself. Then just as Leo was getting used to the flurry of kicks, the Joe changed its attack and went in for a grapple. Leo backpedalled out of the way, but found himself slowly being backed towards the edge of the sparring ring. He was running out of room to maneuver. Every time Leo tried to side-step or push back, the Joe was there, blocking him. It was like it could anticipate his every move.

The Joe darted its hand out, aiming to grab Leo by the wrist, and he saw his chance. He let the grab happen, and twisted his arm as he fell forwards, using his weight and position to push against its thumb, breaking the grab. Leo went to plant his feet beneath him so he could spring past-

And found himself flat on his face.

The Joe had tripped him, catching Leo completely off-guard. As Leo reeled from the fall and his reflexes struggled to catch up to him, he felt a weight on his back, and his arm was twisted into a submission hold.

"Time!"

Leo panted deeply to recover himself as the Joe released him and got off his back. As Leo stood up, he all but burned with embarrassment. He'd been so full of himself, so sure of his abilities, and it hadn't even been a proper fight, just a one-sided assault from the Joe. Max had been right; Leo had been pathetically outclassed.

He looked over to Max, who had a hand hovering over the holographic screen, his expression unreadable. A part of Leo was grateful Max was being considerate and not rubbing it in, but another part of him knew it was coming eventually and wished Max would just get it over with.

That other part eventually won.

"Go on, tell me you were right. I got my ass handed to me."

"Thirty-seven seconds," was Max's reply.

"Huh?" Leo took a moment to understand what he meant, and realized Max was referring to the timer on-screen. Thirty-seven seconds was how long he had lasted. It had felt like an eternity to Leo. He ran a hand through his hair as he trudged over, tugging at it slightly. "Damn, was that really all?"

"What?" Max finally turned to Leo. "Are you kidding, that was incredible!"

Leo took his hand out of his hair and gestured at the Joe, which was standing idly nearby. "What's so incredible about any of this? If that's your idea of a joke, it isn't funny."

"Leo, every new recruit faces a Joe as part of their acceptance to the Bureau. It's a sort of rite of passage." Max turned back to the screen, pulling up a file labelled "Rookie Initiations" and opening a list of names and times. "Look here, most barely last ten seconds during their first fight. But you lasted nearly four times that!"

"I... really?" Leo nudged closer to look at the list. There were hundreds of names, all ranked by the length of their fight. Max scrolled through, and Leo saw he was telling the truth. The vast majority of fights were only a few seconds long. As Max scrolled up the list, the times got longer, eventually hitting the double-digits. Max scrolled higher and higher until he reached the top of the list. There, right in second place, was his own name. Leonhardt Victorion: 37 s.

Max clapped a hand on Leo's shoulder and gave it a friendly squeeze. "You've come a long way from how you were when I first met you, Leo. I hope you're proud of yourself, because I know I sure am."

Max's tone was sincere, and Leo stared silently at the screen. He was still buzzing with post-fight adrenaline and frustration at his loss, but he couldn't deny the evidence right in front of him. He had done well; apparently incredibly well. It was something to be proud of, and Max was proud of him. Leo wasn't sure if he felt deserving of Max's pride, but he couldn't pretend it didn't mean the world to him.

Max released his shoulder and turned towards the exit, beckoning Leo to follow him. "Come on, let's go get you settled in to your department. Lots of people still to meet."

"Right." Leo grabbed his discarded jacket, hurrying to follow. As he and Max left the training gym, Leo spared one last look back at the ranking of names and times, looking at his own name and the only one above it.

Maximillian Caxton: Victorious