The Year of Change

Summary: Twice during every decade, robots start acting strange and humans become on edge for a whole month, especially those in the Eon family. Dealing with an unorthodox love and these new changes, Marty has trouble facing the upcoming war. Will his new friends help him or will his love be forbidden by the adults? Read to find out.

A/N: Hello there! I must say this was completely unplanned for. My niece - she's about 10 - came over and wanted to watch this cartoon and I got hooked. It was a cartoon from my own childhood, one of the ones I could never forget, so I decided to watch the whole thing while trying to see if there was any stories on fanfiction. Can you believe my reaction when I saw not a single story!? Well, it kind of prompted me to think like the fan I am and one thing lead to another and here we are now. Anyway, I hope you like it and please leave a review!

"Gaff! Buttons!" Marty waved with his left hand when he saw his friends as they entered the CDF base. "You're finally here!" The excited brunet yelled as the two got closer.

Buttons, a small, blue robot dog with orange ears and blue optics, immediately perked up and smiled at his friend and owner. "Marty! Oh thank goodness that you're alright! I was so worried!" The robot dog proceeded to jump into the Eon's Heir's arms and they both laughed as Marty spun them around. "You just left and then Gaff ran off without any warning and when he came back, he said you were injured and that you were with the CDF and I only got even more worried and then he took his sweet time getting us here," at this, Buttons glared at the red and white robot standing a few feet away from them, waiting for his turn to greet his Young Master. "And then they almost didn't let me come in! Can you believe the nerve of these people?! Hmph."

Marty just chuckled at his lifelong friend's complaints. "I'm glad you're here, Buttons. It's been so boring without you."

Said robot puffed up at this proudly. "Well, of course! I am the most interesting person you know."

The boy only chuckled again as he put Buttons down, turning his attention to his waiting guardian. Almost on cue, Gaff fell on one knee in front of him, his sword over his central core, a mix between a knight kneeling before his lord and a samurai respectfully bowing his head to his shogun. "Young Master Marty." He greeted respectfully. Marty still felt embarrassed with the respect Gaff showed him, even when he was treating him like a kid on a tantrum. But that wasn't the reason behind his blushing cheeks this time.

It's something he noticed not long ago. Actually, he noticed it and finally realized what it was just a couple of days ago, while he was in a checkup with a doctor after his unexpected fight against Khan and Gaff was in there with him to make sure no more harm came to him. He noticed from the way the heart monitor beeped louder and faster whenever he looked at Gaff and how red in the face he had gotten when Gaff demanded to know what the doctor was doing to cause him distress in a rather threatening manner. Or how hot he had become when the doctor had requested that he take off his shirt to check his ribs to make sure nothing was damaged. He had to take his shirt off. In front of Gaff! Marty had just wanted to die right there, to be swallowed by the earth and never seen again. The doctor, bless him, seemed to realize the source of his discomfort and managed to get Gaff to leave with the pretense that the Director wanted his report in his office immediately. The doctor then contacted said man and briefed him about Gaff's arrival before returning to his patient. Marty was immediately relaxed again, but his reactions couldn't leave his mind. The final clue he needed to get for him to understand what he felt was the sorrow he felt when Gaff told him he had to leave for a few days. He had stood outside the base for an entire hour, watching as Gaff disappeared into the desert before Ally called him in for lunch.

If none of those were a good enough clue, the joy he felt now and the fluttering in his stomach were a dead giveaway. He had a crush on Gaff. Actually, while he may not know love personally, Marty was willing to bet his Fist that it was a lot more than some silly little crush. He'd asked Ally what a crush feels like and she explained that it was when you really liked someone but that it passes with time and you usually forget about it in the end, instead staying a friend with the person. Sure, it sometimes turns into love, but the former is much more often with crushes. Marty had a feeling that this thing for Gaff won't be fading anytime soon. He wasn't sure what made him think like that, but he knew it in his heart.

"You know you can stop with the formalities, Gaff." He said to the robot with a smile, fighting the urge to look away in order to hide his blush. "It's really weird." He winced, realizing what he had implied and moved to correct himself but Gaff just nodded and got up.

"I understand. You are still not used to and thus uncomfortable with such gestures. I'll try to tone it down."

Marty sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I just kinda don't want to feel like we're miles apart because of formalities, you know." He moved from rubbing his head to twiddling his index fingers, not daring to meet Gaff's yellow optics. "We're friends and all."

The Eon family's guardian's yellow optics flashed brighter for a brief second, probably in surprise, before nodding. "I understand and am honored, Master Marty. I, too, feel joy in being your friend and comrade." Marty smiled at his guardian and turned to walk further inside the base.

"Come on. I think that they want to talk to you." Gaff nodded and walked deeper into the base, heading towards the Chief's office, where Magnum and Violet were going to greet him, along with the Chief and his SIC. When they parted ways, Marty proceeded to smash his head against the metal walls as Buttons watched on. "I am such an idiot!" He said with each time he hit his head.

"Is something wrong, Marty?" A gentle female voice said as Ally stuck her head out into the hallway from inside the room against which's wall Marty had been hitting his head.

"Yeah, what did that wall ever do to you?" Buttons chimed in and Marty sighed, really not in the mood for his metal friend's at times poor humor.

"Are you alright?" The brunette asked again as she fully stepped into the corridor in her new pink dress and boots, worry all over her face. Marty looked into her emerald eyes and knew he'd cave and tell her.

"Can we talk about this somewhere more private?" The boy asked nervously, looking down both sides of the corridor as if someone was going to jump out and attack him. "I'd rather no one else overhear and you guys have to promise to keep this a secret."

Buttons made a motion with his paws as though he was locking up his lips while Ally gestured them into the room she'd just exited. "My lips are sealed. Whatever you tell us Marty, I swear no one will hear about it from me! I'll stay quiet even under torture!" The two children shook their heads as the robot continued rambling on, more than used to his inability to just shut up.

"So what's been eating at you these past couple of days, Marty?" Ally gently asked as she sat at her work desk chair and Marty tiredly plopped onto her bed with Buttons beside him. "You look pretty stressed."

"Ally, remember when I asked you about the whole crush thing?" The girl nodded while Buttons looked on between them in slight confusion. "Well, um ... Do you think it's possible to skip that stage and just ... fall in love with someone?"

The genius blinked at her friend, perplexed. "Well, I guess. I heard that there are even instances where people fall in love with each other the first time they see one another. That's called love at first sight. So, yeah, I think it is possible to not have a crush on someone but to still fall in love with them."

"Do you think ... it matters who we fall in love with?" The yellow and blue clad boy asked, once again playing with his fingers out of nervousness.

"I don't think gender should count, if that's what you mean." The pink clad girl shrugged. "You can't control who you love."

"Even if it's a robot?"

Both his friends blinked at him in confusion and there was an awkward stretch of silence as they tried to comprehend what Marty had just said. Finally, Ally spoke. "Yes. Even if it's a robot. I mean, they have as much personality as we do and some of them are really esthetically pleasing. So why not?"

Marty seemed to relax slightly at that and Buttons finally joined in on the conversation. "Wait, does this mean you like some of the robots here?" Marty nodded his head sheepishly. "Well, why didn't you tell me?! Let's go win over her heart! I'm sure she'll be honored to have Eon's Heir liking her!"

"It's not a her and it would make things awkward if I confessed." Marty said before Buttons could jump off the bed and run off to try and find his love interest. The dog in question turned around to gape at his friend.

"Don't tell me it's Captain Magnum!" The blue dog exclaimed. "I heard from Gaff he's big and strong and pretty much a war machine!" At the mention of the red and white bot's name, Marty found himself blushing again. Buttons took it the wrong way. "Oh no! It is Magnum, isn't it!? No no no no no! He's a federal agent. They won't allow the relationship and Marty will die of a broken heart!" The little robot suddenly flung itself at his owner, nearly knocking him over. "My poor Marty!"

"Buttons! It's not Captain Magnum!" Marty yelled as he pried his friend off of his face. Blue optics blinked at him.

"It's not? Then who is it?"

Ally was the one who answered. "It's Gaff ... isn't it?" Marty blushed as red as Tony's paint job and nodded. "Oh, Marty." The girl said fondly. "I'm sure Gaff would be honored to have your affections."

"Of course he would be. I'm his Master," the boy bitterly ground out, looking away from his friends. Buttons and Ally exchanged looks, not really knowing how to deal with this. Neither were love experts and Ally hadn't even had her first kiss yet. "He'll probably only ever see me as either that or a kid. He looked so surprised when I suggested we're friends! How would he react to this?"

Sadly, neither of his friends could answer him. They could only place a hand on his shoulder and a paw on his knee to let him know they'd be there for him.

00000

"There were reports of the General's men scouting the desert near Orange Valley," the brunette woman with round black glasses, dressed in blue, known as Kelly, said the next morning during the first briefing the kids and Buttons were present for. The only other people present for the meeting were Gaff, Violet, captain Magnum and the CDF boss, so to say, Chief Gibson. They had been called in early this fine desert morning for this meeting, to discus this very matter. "The soldiers on patrol say they saw Black Beauty there, which contradicts your story that she was defeated."

"It remains that she was defeated. This just means she was fixed." Gaff said calmly and Gibson nodded along, understanding. "Both Black Beauty and Scar disappeared after the fight at the Eon House."

"They now have the Iron Tower's equipment to repair themselves," Ally reminded in a somewhat meek voice. "There's more than enough machines there to get them back in shape."

"Ally's right. From my brief assignment there, I saw that they have enough spare parts to assemble an army of new robots, sir." Violet added as she stepped forward. "It wouldn't be too farfatched for them to be repaired. They are some of the General's strongest minions."

"But what are they doing in Orange Valley?" Captain Magnum asked with a frown. "Didn't they already search through that sector of the desert a few months ago?"

"They were searching for Mater Marty and myself back then." The guardian of the Eon family replied with his hand tightening around his sword. "They must be searching for the last parts of the General there."

"It doesn't really matter what they are doing." Kelly interjected. "Right now, all that matters is stopping them. They've already encountered several civilian vechicals and there are dead and seriously injured. We dispatched a unit yesterday, but only half of them survived the attack. Apparently, Black Beauty is excessively aggressive all of the sudden. She didn't even try to play with them. She just attacked."

Gaff stiffened at this and the Chief looked at him curiously. "Is there something you know about this sudden strange behavior from our least favorite lady?"

"I ... think I know the cause of this. Yes, that could be it, but ... " The red and white robot shook his head. "I'd have to see this myself to be 100% sure. It is no small matter."

"Gaff, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to speak plainly so we can all understand you." Gibson told the oldest robot in the room, everyone else staring at Gaff with a verity of emotions. Gaff noted that his Young Master's was somewhere between curiosity and worry.

"I'm afraid that I'll have to confirm it before I can say anything," Gaff told them all. "However, you have no reason to worry. Just keep your soldiers away from her until I check this."

Gibson sighed tiredly as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He knew it was futile to argue with old bots, especially ones like Gaff. The guy had spent a hundred years keeping secrets and telling them only as he saw fit. There's no way he would be able to get him to change such an attitude after it has developed for so long. After all, it had kept the Fist and now Marty safe for years. Gaff won't be talking until he felt like it.

"Very well. But we still need a team to go out and deal with the minions. I would send out my men but Black Beauty and her ninja robots always end up destroying our troops. You, Marty and Captain Magnum are so far the only ones to survive a fight against them." Marty jerked up at the mention of his name but Magnum just stood to attention. "I want you three to head out and deal with this group. If you need, take a few men with you as backup."

"I don't think that will be necessary, sir." The big blue robot said confidently. "I've seen them fight and I think we will be just fine." Marty shrugged but Gaff had no reaction. That unnerved Gibson more than anything else.

00000

"Soooo, is there something you're not telling us?" Marty asked of his guardian after they and Captain Magnum spent an hour searching around the desert that falls under Orange Mama's territory. "I mean, you must suspect something if you want to confirm it. Right?"

Gaff didn't look at his Master, instead keeping an eye out for any enemies that might want him harm as he answered. "I do. And I meant it when I said you have nothing to worry about, but I might. I usually measure this time by her attacking me more viciously than usual."

"'This time'?" The boy asked with confusion. "What do you mean? What time?"

"We can talk about this later," Magnum called from where he was flying over the two as they traveled by using their flying steps technique. "I see our targets straight ahead- Hey! Get back here!"

"Gaff!" Marty called out as his guardian suddenly sped up, leaving the other two stunned behind him. Not waisting a second more, the Fist bearer sped up as well and Magnum followed after them while reporting to CDF. Gaff didn't wait for them, using his head start to be the first to attack the black ninja robots. Like every other time, the minions stood no chance against the warrior and his dragon sword. No matter the number of attackers that went at him, Gaff cut them all down with minimal use of chi.

However, that changed when a flurry of knives flew towards him. Gaff put up his sword and deflected most of them then avoided the rest, but while he was dodging, a black form hurled itself at him. He lost his footing and slammed into the ground, the thing's weight pinning him down quite effectively.

"Gaff!" Marty cried in fright when he saw the red and white bot go down, hurrying up towards the battle, only to be stopped by the ninjas as they threw their weapons at him. He glared at them as he activated the fist and started punching his way through to Gaff. Magnum had to land and help out as more and more ninjas kept coming at them. Thankfully, between Marty's Fist and Magnum's cannons and other weapons, they soon made it to where Gaff was, praying he was fine.

To their surprise, the female robot didn't have her daggers out and was instead trying to unclasp a certain plating on Gaff's chest, still straddling him and fighting off his attempts to buck her off. Gaff, for his part, had an expression on his face that suggested he had smelled something foul and was going to be sick as he tried to push his adversary off, but Black Beauty wasn't budging. She suddenly lost interest in the plating and caught the Eon family's guardian by the wrists, leaning in close to his face.

"You've been denying me your coding for over a hundred years, Gaff. I am getting impatient." She hissed in a sickeningly sweet tone. Gaff's yellow eyes narrowed further and with one mighty push, he unseated Black Beauty from her perch. Gaff immediately took up his sword and made a slash at her. The kunoichi robot hissed as her plating was cut and glared with her reddish optics while drawing her knives. Marty reacted before he could properly think and thrust his Fist towards the enemy, letting his chi hit her and push her away from Gaff. Magnum saw the opening and fired his missals at her. Black Beauty recovered enough to dodge most of them but one still hit her midsection and another her left arm.

Marty landed beside Gaff, looking at him in concern, especially when chocolate eyes landed on the scratch marks on his chest plate. "Are you alright?"

"I am fine, Marty." The robot replied, looking momentarily over to his armored Master and checking for any possible enemies. It would seem that all of his training in the House of Eon has really paid off. There was barely a hint of him getting hit by the most numbered of the General's armies. However, they are not that strong, either. Now that Marty had training and control over the Fist, the ninjas won't ever be a problem for him. "I see you defeated your bout of enemies." He noted the fallen black bodies with pride. "You did good."

Marty flushed at the praise and was thankful for his armor at that moment, since it covered his whole face and prevented Gaff from seeing his reddened cheeks. However, before he could say anything, Gaff was pulling him towards himself and jumping out of the way of three knives while holding him close. They both looked over to Black Beauty when they landed to see her glaring death at them while two of her subordinates helped her stand.

"I will get your coding this year, Gaff. Mark my words." And with that, they ran off, leaving the ancient robot with his master and a CDF agent, both of whom were very confused at the moment.

"What was that?" Magnum asked as he walked over to the two red and white armored fighters. Marty shrugged his shoulders and looked up at Gaff.

"Gaff?"

The swordsman gave no answer.