CHAPTER 35
Fun and Panic
After the many black tie events that his father had made him go to, Mark was somewhat-relieved he could go in civilian clothing this time. The Autobots had been informed it was only a semi-formal event with the kids being dressed in their "Sunday best". But knowing that many of these kids didn't have the nice clothing he was provided with, so he had dressed appropriately in a plaid shirt with the top button unbuttoned and a nice pair of jeans. It was enough to make himself look presentable as a guest of honor, yet not enough to flaunt and make it look like he was above any of the other foster kids there.
It helped, of course, that the charity event was at a large park on the other side of town, meaning most were dressed in the same fashion. . Though, the other Autobots were understandingly parked nearby in case anything went wrong. "We are so, so honored that you could both make it." They were told by an older man for the fifth time that day as they followed him through the park, Hound in his holoform "Your unique story really brought tears to our eyes when we read it in the paper. How you Autobots took in a boy of..." He chose his next words carefully "An enemy."
Mark shrugged, not seeing how special it was exactly anymore. They hadn't taken him in for that reason, they had taken him in because they liked him, and what was more, Hound loved him. Hound however, put his arm around his foster son's shoulders, and nodded slowly. "Well... As Autobots, we don't discriminate based upon history." Hound explained "All that matters is your heart, or spark being in the right place. And I knew Mark's was from the moment I met him."
"You're overselling it." Mark tried to help, his voice low enough that only Hound would hear him.
Hound sighed, that was one thing he couldn't do. But he honestly could not help it, he was nervous. A lot was riding on this event and the last thing he wanted to do was screw it up. "What I was saying..." Hound "cleared' his throat "Was that Mark was a good kid, and a good kid deserves a good home. Something that I knew I could provide." He then added "There are enough people homeless or orphaned by our war, the most I could do was to see to it that one of them has a bright future ahead of them."
"With that extremely generous donation that NEST has made a lot more futures have been insured too." The man nodded, a smile spreading on his face as they watched some smaller children running around in face paint "You're right, Mr. Hound, there are far too many orphaned and displaced children, even before you ever arrived." Hound nodded his head "It's my dream that someday we can find a permanent way to fix that."
Mark nodded his head at what the man was saying. He agreed with that definitely, he had only spent a short time on his own, but it was far from the highlight of his life. It had been lonely, quiet, and depressing, especially while he was getting over his father's death. He felt Hound squeeze him slightly, knowing that he must have dug into his thoughts, and smiled a bit. "Now, your ceremony will be in about four hours." The man announced "Until then, you're free to join in the fun, and please do."
As the man finally left them, Mark smiled and put his hands into his pockets. "So, what do you want to do first? I think I saw some carnival games a little further down, I bet that would be fun." He then added "I used to be the king of the dart game back when..."
Hound nodded his head, allowing Mark to lead him towards where the "carnival games" seemed to be. There turned out to be no dart game, so instead, Mark settled for a balloon popping race of some kind which involved shooting water into a painted clown sculptures mouth. "So were you pretty good at this game as well?" Hound asked as he stood behind Mark "Or do you want your sharpshooter of an old mech to try and win ye something?"
Mark shook his head. "No, Hound, trust me, I got this." Mark licked his lips with anticipation "Besides, my competition is a six year old, and a ten year old. You think I'm gonna lose?" He then added "Fat chance."
"There goes that humbleness of yours."
Mark gently smacked Hound's holoform in the chest, and laughed before the buzzer went off to start. Hound was quick to notice that the boy wasn't quite as good as he had wanted him to believe. He shook his head when, to his surprise, the six year old won, and was given a teddy bear in response. "Sharp reflexes there, boy." Hound chuckled as he ruffled Mark's hair slightly "If ye want, I can still give it a try."
"No way." Mark stood, laughing it off "These games are rigged anyway."
"Don't be a sore loser now." Hound stated as Mark stood and he placed both hands on his shoulders "C'mon, I think there's free music over there, you like music." Mark smiled a bit, noticing a stage with a small band playing "I think this will be a much less aggravating way to spend our time. And after this we can grab some of that junk food you love so much and see how much you can eat until you puke." He joked.
"First Aid would have a conniption."
"Eh, you're a kid. I give you permission to go crazy today."
"Thanks, I'm glad I got your permission." Mark stuck his tongue out, rushing off towards the band now.
Hound only chuckled before taking off after the young human. Perhaps today would go alright after all, and he was worried for absolutely nothing. Or at least, he hoped that would be the case.
...
It hadn't taken much for Mark to get full, an ice cream bar, cotton candy, funnel cake, and the like later. Hound was now convinced that the child had a second stomach, as he hadn't even complained about a stomach ache either. Yet, it was still fun to watch Mark run around, and have fun in a manner that he didn't always get to do on base. With the only downer being that he had so called "rage quit" trying to win any of the "rigged" carnival games after an unending losing streak and much laughter between the two later.
Being honored was probably the hardest part of the entire day, but luckily it was a short affair. The man from before had gotten up on a podium that was set up and talked briefly about why they were there. At this point, for emphasis, Hound was standing in his bipedal robotic form, with Mark at his side. After the words were spoken, Hound was asked to say a few words, and spoke briefly on the importance of the program before stepping down to an applause of his own, at which point, they were presented a small plaque and it was finally over, with the rest of the event continuing on once more.
"So, now what do we do?" Mark asked as Hound deposited the plaque in his subspace and they began to walk away "We still have all day off at base, right?"
Hound nodded his head for a moment, his optics softening. "Perhaps we can take advantage of it. After this, I'll take you out to dinner, we've never done that before." Hound explained "And then, maybe..." He stopped mid-sentence as his optics shot up "Oh no..."
"Hound?" Mark stopped in his tracks "What's the matter?"
"Decepticons..." Hound growled, his eyes moving up to the sky.
"Hound, today isn't supposed to be-."
"DECEPTICONS!"
Before Mark knew what was happening, the large hulking form of Hound was on top of him. The sound of a missile crashing into metal stunned him. But Hound quickly turned to see the approaching form of a large jet, but it didn't look like Cyclonus, but rather had a blue and red paint scheme.. "Holy crap, who is that?" Mark replied, looking around as he saw two more jets flanking it "There are more fliers?" He turned, and looked around as chaos was seemingly breaking out.
"Mark, run. Help the adults get the kids out of here, and keep your head down."
"R-Right. What about you?" Mark asked wearily.
"Forget me! This is a targeted strike on the kids!" Hound stated as he brought out one of his submachine guns "The last thing we need is you or any other civilian getting hurt." He quickly activated his comm link and shouted into it "HOUND TO AUTOBOTS! The Decepticons are here and opening fire at the park! I need back-up, ASAP! Sideswipe get your aft over here and get Mark OUT of the battle zone!"
A blast hit his shoulder, surprising him as he brought out a large cannon next firing at the now transformed seeker. "It's a pity I'm here under orders." The mech mused "I always did find the fleshies of this planet interesting. I'd even considered taking one as a pet."
As the seeker locked optics with Hound, the mech quickly recognized him. "THUNDERCRACKER!" Hound shouted in surprise "Leave the humans out of this! There are innocent sparklings here." He then added "Can't you find your moral compass and realize how many children could die here today?"
Hound watched the two Decepticons still circling as he realized it was the mech's brothers, Skywarp and Dirge. "Sorry, Hound..." Thundercracker sneered, firing off one of his own cannons "I left my "moral compass" at the door today!"
As Hound charged and fired off a volley of shots, the other Autobots tore down the road and into the park. By now, there were vehicons on the approach too, opening fire on the area, and causing many humans to become trapped. The whole situation terrified Mark, he had never been in the middle of an Autobot battlefield before, but now here he was, smack-dab in the middle with a cluster of kids he had gathered. "Come on, come on, we gotta go!" He stated, noting as one of the little girls took his hand, and they burst into a run across the field, avoiding blaster fire and gunfire alike "Crap." He muttered as a vehicon turned on him about to fire his cannon off.
It never got the chance, as a pair of blades struck it deep in the chest, and flipped it over. Mark quickly caught sight of Drift, who ripped his weapons out. "Mark, go! All of you! I'll clear a path as best I can." He quickly struck down several more vehicons, keeping close to the retreating children "Mark, when you get out of the park, immediately find Sideswipe!"
"There are still people in there!" Mark shouted.
"If the Decepticons find you, we can't be guaranteed to protect you!" Drift shouted as he made it to the edge of the park, Mark turned his head back at Drift "We'll be fine, Markus-kun! Get to safety."
Mark took a deep breath, and lead the kids to a waiting van in the parking lot. The door opened as several social workers helped the kids inside. Mark's breath became labored as he turned to see several other kids and adults trying to escape. But what amazed him was that the Autobots didn't waste a second in protecting them. Covering them from fire, and in some cases (including Optimus) using their own bodies to shield to shield anyone from the blast. Bumblebee even went as far as to scoop up a large group of humans and carry them away himself amidst the gunfire.
"Kid, get in." The driver spoke "We have to get you out of here too!"
"I'm with the Autobots." Mark breathed out "I need to find my guardian. You just get them out of here."
The driver looked ready to argue, but Mark was already on the run across the parking lot. He searched for any sign of the silver Autobot, but quickly found that he was still in the throng of the battle, within the park. "SIDESWIPE!" He shouted, or at least attempted to shout, over the gunfire as he rushed towards the mech "SIDES! OVER HERE!"
His ears suddenly rang and he was thrown through the air, landing hard on his side as he cried out in pain. As he turned around to see the large bit of destroyed Earth, he was very thankful that whatever did it hadn't hit him. "Well, well, well..." Mark felt a chill up his spine as he turned his head towards the voice, and found himself facing a tall red Decepticon "What do we have here? You look familiar kid, kinda like the kid on the podium over there, am I right?"
Mark didn't answer, he quickly pulled himself to his feet and began to run. He didn't get farther than a couple of feet before cold, metal talons wrapped around his waist, causing him to cry out in fear. "Let me go! Let me go you giant FREAK!" Mark shouted as he struggled in the mechs tight grip "SIDESWIPE! HOUND! HELP ME!" He screamed.
Knock Out chuckled a bit as the boy struggled, his screams getting louder and louder. "Yeah, you definitely are the Autobots pet alright." He sneered slightly "Why don't we go for a little ride to go and see Galvatron, eh, Mark?" He asked "I know Lord Galvatron has been dying to meet you!"
"Put him down!"
Knock Out turned to see the rapidly approaching form of Hound, who looked furious, trudging up the hill. Knock Out groaned, had Thundercracker already failed to keep him at bay? Knock Out growled a little, holding Mark against his chestplate. "Looks like it's time to get this show on the road, Markie boy." He stated as he began the slow transformation down into an Aston Martin, once inside, Mark was trapped by the seatbelts in the driver's seat, which tightened violently "Hold onto something, I can guarantee it's going to be a bumpy ride."
As Knock Out floored the gas, Hound's optics widened. First looking over at Knock Out, then back at the ensuing battle. Could he leave his comrades? Better yet, could he knowingly stand by and watch his foster son be carried off to their worst enemy? "PRIME! A Decepticon has taken off with Mark in-towe." Hound shouted into his comm link "Permission to pursue!"
"Granted." Optimus didn't even take more than a moment to reply "We'll hold the Decepticons off here!"
Hound didn't bother with an "affirmative" in response, he transformed down quickly, and floored his own gas. Taking off in fury, and hoping that he could catch up with the Decepticon speedster before it was too late.