The Protectors of Eerie

Somehow, Mr. Radford became the go-to guy for when things got rough. And things were definitely rough, which was why Simon was biking as fast as he could towards the World O'Stuff muttering "Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man," under his breath as he nearly toppled off his bike rounding curves far too fast and almost knocked over two relatively-innocent bystanders when he came to a screeching halt outside the building that had somewhere along the line turned from 'store' to 'refuge' for Simon.

"Mr. Radford!" Simon shouted when he was just barely inside. The shopkeeper was behind the ice-cream counter serving up Milk-Shakes to Syndi Teller and her friend who's name Simon didn't actually know but he suspected it began with an A - not that it mattered at this particular point. Not now that he had Radford's attention and had adequately conveyed that there was trouble in Eerie with a capital T (and that rhymes with D and stands for Dash, in case anyone wasn't sure).

"This way, Simon," Radford said, gesturing towards a door Simon had never actually seen before. Simon followed Radford through into what appeared to be a giant cave - the stone ceiling stretched high above their heads and Simon took that in and the vastness that it represented before he even noticed the other things: computer consoles had been built into the stone walls and they stretched out before Simon, their lights blinking while something kept up a steady beeping.

"What is this?" Simon asked.

"This is your destiny, my young friend," Radford said. "I'd been hoping I could wait to show you for a few more years, but with Dash's arrival things have been significantly sped up."

"Things?" Simon asked, running his hand across one of the shining, silver computers. "Destiny?"

"I assume there is some mortal peril currently threatening Mr. Teller and Dash?" Radford asked. Simon could only nod. "I'll need you to tell me what it is."

Simon nodded again, then dove in, trying to explain in as few words as possible. "We were digging for fossils," Simon said. "It was Mars' idea, actually - he thought if we found a dinosaur we could fund our research into the weirdness. I think he got the idea from school...," Simon trailed off, unnerved by the pleased look on Radford's face.

"You found a dinosaur, didn't you?" Radford asked.

Simon nodded. "Yeah," he said, "it just...didn’t stay dead."

Radford grinned. "I have just the thing." He tapped a few keys on the computer and a tray slid out containing three keys and three strange looking watches - one white, one red, one black. He took up the white key and watch and handed them to Simon. "My ancestors have lived in Eerie for centuries, Simon, and each of us trained three protectors - children who could see Eerie for what it was - to make sure things do not get out of hand."

Simon put the watch on and stared at the keyhole in the side. "What do you mean?" Simon asked.

"You, Marshall, and Dash were chosen," Radford said. "Eerie picked you to protect it from whatever forces seek to destroy it."

"Oh," Simon said, his voice quiet.

"I need you to get these to Mars and Dash," Radford said. "Can you do that?"

Simon nodded, taking the other two watches and keys.

"I'll explain everything once the dinosaur is dealt with," Radford said, typing into the computer again. "Take this," he said. A wall slid open and Simon stared at a looming machine shaped like a dove. "It's yours."

Simon put the key in the watch and turned it. A warmth spread over him for a moment, then it was gone and when he caught his reflection in the shining consoles surrounding him he saw that he was dressed in a white suit with a white mask - he felt rather like Zorro. He even had a sword.

"What do I do now?" Simon asked.

"You take the dove and go," Radford said. "I'll have the Phoenix and the Raven ready for you if Marshall and Dash need them - and depending on the type of dinosaur, I'm guessing that's very likely."

"It's a T-Rex," Simon muttered, waking slowly towards the looming mechanical bird before him. A door slid open in its belly and Simon stepped into a small room that turned out to be an elevator, whisking him up to the bridge in the bird's head. Simon sat at the controls, afraid he wouldn't know what to do.

Luckily, Radford's voice crackled over a comm-link just then. "I've set it up for auto-pilot, Simon," he said, "just enter the coordinates and it will take you where you need to be."

Simon entered the coordinates - glad he and Mars had studied maps and navigating in the hopes of discovering a rumoured bit of treasure that should have been buried beneath the tree in Mayor Chisel's front yard. They hadn't actually found anything, but both of them figured that was because Chisel had gotten to it first.

Simon was shocked from his reminiscence by the bird taking flight, soaring into the clear afternoon air and turning towards the meadow where Simon, Dash, and Marshall had been digging. From way up in the sky, Simon could see Dash and Mars running towards the forest that Simon realized was much further away than it had seemed and he counted himself lucky he had already been in the trees when the dinosaur had awoken.

The bird dove and a button lit up. Simon pushed it and he felt the machine shift. A bright light flashed through the bridge and Simon was deposited beside his friends in time to see the dove rake its claws across the T-Rex's snout.

"What the hell?" Dash shouted.

"Simon?" Marshall asked.

Simon only held out the watches and keys - the red one to Marshall, the black to Dash. "Radford said he'd explain later," Simon said. "Just put them on and turn the keys and tell Radford you need your birds."

Marshall obeyed immediately and was soon dressed in a red suit with a matching mask. Dash rolled his eyes, but then the T-Rex roared as the dove swooped in for another attack and Dash quickly obeyed Simon's instructions and was soon in a black suit and mask.

"Can you hear me boys?" Radford asked.

"We hear you," Marshall said - Simon could hear the confusion he was trying to hide. "Simon said we should tell you we need our birds?"

"Way ahead of you!"

The boys looked up in time to see two more machine birds swooping in to help the dove. Another flash of light lit up the meadow and Simon was back in the dove, and, he assumed, Dash and Mars were in their respective birds.

He looked down at the controls and took a deep breath - it was time to fight.

Simon wasn't sure how, but he managed to manipulate the controls rather deftly after Dash shouted some instructions through the comms - Simon would have to ask Dash about his affinity for electronic things once they were out of peril.

It turned out the birds could not only annoy the massive lizard with their claws, but they also had weapons systems stored in their eyes, beaks, and, to Dash's eternal amusement, their rear-ends. Simon particularly liked the rear-end weapons system due to the fact that he could drop bombs on the dinosaur by just flying over it.

Marshall preferred the eyes, probably because they were lasers. Dash, it turned out, was fond of mixing up his attacks which, not surprisingly, was the better idea and soon both Simon and Marshall had adopted the technique.

When the T-Rex collapsed on the ground, Simon let out a whoop at their success. When the T-Rex disappeared entirely, he stared down at the ground in dismay - there went their proof of the weirdness of Eerie. Before he could bemoan their luck too much, his dove turned to lead the way back to Radford's cave and Simon just let it go because he had an odd feeling Radford knew what had happened to the beast.

He was right.

"Good show, my boys!" Radford said as the three boys stepped out of their birds. "And without any training at all, splendid.

 

"It's mostly thanks to Dash," Simon said, hiding a grin when a dark blush rose to Dash's cheeks.

"But why'd the dino disappear?" Marshall asked - no, demanded.

"I think we should start at the beginning," Radford said. "How did the dino come alive?"

Dash looked away. "I touched it," he said. "It still had skin on it and I wanted to know what it felt like, so I touched it and then it just woke up."

Radford nodded. "That's what I thought," he said.

"But why?" Dash asked.

Radford smiled and gestured to a conference table he had clearly set up while they were out fighting dinosaurs. "Sit down," he said, "have some hot-chocolate, and I'll explain everything."

"I already told Simon this," Radford said, "but it is only fair I tell you, too." He took a deep breath, looked from Marshall to Dash to Simon then back, and began. "My family is one of the old families of Eerie," he said, "and one of the few families in which all members see Eerie for what it is."

"You mean weird," Marshall said.

It wasn't a question, but Radford nodded his assent anyway. "Yes," he said. "I mean weird. Eerie protects itself by preventing most people from seeing that weirdness. A special few are chosen to see it so that any weirdness trying to get into Eerie because of Eerie's weirdness does not overtake Eerie."

Simon's head hurt, so he took a gulp of his hot chocolate and tried to make sense of what Radford was saying. It wasn't helping, and from the looks on Dash and Marshall's faces, they didn't get it either.

Radford sighed. "Eerie is weird," he said, "but Eerie's particular brand of weirdness is relatively tame. There are other weirdnesses that would love to piggy back on Eerie to increase their powers. That is where my family and you three come in."

"We're supposed to stop the piggy-backing?" Simon asked.

"Yes," Radford said. "And I am supposed to train you to make sure you can."

"Why us?" Marshall asked.

"Because," Radford said with a soft smile, "Eerie likes you."

"Could've fooled me," Dash muttered.

--

"You buy this crapola?" Dash asked. They were sitting in Marshall's back yard watching a meteor shower in the hopes of catching a UFO landing.

Marshall glanced at the watch still on his wrist. "I don't know if we can afford not to," he said. "But Radford did say it was up to us."

"I buy it," Simon said, tugging at the grass. "And I like it."

"You would," Dash muttered, but he didn't sound very angry or spiteful. He let out a low sigh. "I don't know, isn't this town weird enough without three Zorro-wanna-bes flying around in tin birds?"

"I thought we were flying around in tin-birds to keep Eerie weird enough," Simon said.

"Yeah, you go on believing that," Dash said. He stood up, brushing off his trench coat. "Tell precious Radford you'll do it, but count me out." He turned on his heel and marched away.

"No surprises there," Marshall said, laying back in the grass.

"He'll be there tomorrow," Simon said.

"How do you know?" Marshall asked, looking over at his friend.

Simon turned his head, settling his cheek against his knees. "He still has the watch," he said.

And Marshall smiled.