Randall was done cleaning the kitchen and went to his room. He took the toaster with his Morpho Partner in it along and placed it on his desk. With a deep sigh he sat down on his desk chair and opened his laptop.

“Hue hue?” Kracheens head popped out of the toaster again.

“Shh, it’s okay Kracheen, stay in there.” Randall turned on the laptop and it made a whirring sound. “You can sleep if you want. I just need to call dad…”

Randall took a deep breath, reached into the desks drawer, pulled out the inhaler he stored in there and puffed it twice into his mouth. He was usually not that nervous when calling his father. But this time was different, because he had yet to tell him about the Morpho Defenders. He’d dreaded this conversation for weeks now.

Eventually, he launched the video call software Syke and noticed his dad was online. It must’ve been around midnight in London by now, and he knew his dad edited videos in his free time, so surely he was readily available in front of his computer for a call.

Randall pressed the green call button, and just a few seconds later his dad picked up.

“Randall! My boy!” His webcam turned on and he smiled at his son.

Sawyer Doyle was a muscular man with blonde hair and an undercut, as well as a strikingly fake sun-tan. He was usually seen wearing his white Elite Defenders Uniform in the variation of the England Morpho Defenders, but today he just wore a tight, green shirt with a crocodile application on it. Behind him, his little pink dog-pig looking Morpho Mon was sleeping.

“Good to see you again~ It’s been months!!”

“Hey, dad”, Randall replied shortly. “Up late again?”

“Yeah, as usual~ Actually, I’ll go on patrol in about 30 minutes.”

“I see. Well, actually, dad…” Randall sighed. “I have to tell you something.”

“Is Nasti there? Can I see my little sunshine?”

“Huh? No, she’s probably asleep now. Can I please finish what I have to say?”

“What a bummer~ I heard her on the phone with Hualing earlier. She’s such a good girl~ Can’t wait to see her next week~"

“DAD!” Randall growled. “Will you please be quiet?? I have to tell you something!!”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

“Okay so…” Randall folded his hands. “Dad… I am an apprentice Morpho Defender.”

There was an awkward silence for what felt like minutes, even though only seconds passed. Sawyer’s friendly and happy expression has quickly faded and made room for an expression that was both shocked and confused.

“You…. are what?” He leaned forward, crossing his arms and tilting his head.

“It’s as I said.” Randall’s gaze was unshaken by his fathers obvious bewilderment. “I passed the test, and started working and studying at the HQ two weeks ago. I have signed the contract, and you can’t do anything about it.”

“... RANDALL!!” Sawyer slammed his hands on the desk, scaring his Morpho Partner wide awake. “YOU CAN’T DO THIS!! You have NO idea what you’re getting yourself into!!”

“I know exactly what awaits me!!” Randall’s voice got louder. “For my entire life I’ve seen YOU and YOUR work for the Defenders! I know it’s not easy! I know it can be brutal!! But you know what?!” He brushed his hair out of his face and leaned back in his chair. “I will prove to you that I’m no longer the weak, sick boy you see in me. I am an adult now, and I will PROVE that I can do ANYTHING I set my mind to!!”

There was a moment of silence again, before Sawyer broke through it with a deep sigh.

“Randall.” He sounded exhausted and held the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “I do not want to police you because I think I am superior, I am just trying to protect you.”

“I don’t WANT to be protected dad!!”

“IT’S MY RESPONSIBILITY!!” Sawyer looked up again. “Do you think that rushing you into the hospital, scared by the terror of whether you might survive or not, didn’t leave a scar on me?! Randall…” His tone became sad and desperate. “I can’t stand the thought of losing you…”

“....” Randall looked to the side.

Sawyer hid his face behind the palm of his hand. “I don’t think you’re incompetent. But… I’m scared. You may not remember the times you were in hospital, when your mother and I were crying in fear…” He looked up at him again. “Who knows what will happen when you have to face the dangerous situations I had to witness in my time as a defender?”

“.... Nobody will know if you never even give me a chance. Goodbye, dad.” Randall closed his laptop, stood up and collapsed face first onto his bed, letting out a deep, frustrated groan.

He’d known it would go like this.

This was not the first time he spoke to his dad about joining the defenders. The first time he did it he was 10 years old. But it would always be the same. “You’re too sick”, “You’d die”, “You don’t have what it takes to be a Defender”, to name just a few. It became so frustrating that at a certain point, it spurred on his determination to do it. Not just for himself, but to prove everyone - and especially his father - that he could do this.

“Hueeeeh!” Kracheen crawled out of his toaster and wiggled himself to Randall on the bed, poking him with his nose, probably to check if he was still alive.

“Mh?” Randall turned his head to him. “Hey.” He sat up and patted Kracheen’s head. “I’m okay Kracheen, don’t worry. You can go back to sleep.”

“Hueeeh!” Kracheen rolled himself up to a pile.

“... Fine, if you wanna stay here.” Randall now grabbed his phone and began texting to get his mind off of the call with his father. He texted in the group chat of his band, asking for the date of the next practice, and if he could join. With all the Defenders and family business going on, he barely had any time to practice, and his bass was getting dusty.

He knew he’d have to tell them about his new job as well, but expected that to go much more smoothly.

The nice messages of his friends made the evening much more bearable than it had been minutes ago.