Note: first fanfic, will improve as I go along, I have been a gamemaster on my past RP site so the action should be good, and I do not own Ben 10 or anything that is remotely like Ben 10.

AUTHOR'S NOTE OF GLORY: Hard to believe that I had the whole Metal Trial planned out for several years now. Man, I thought waaay ahead. This, was the most important part of the story line for me, and I'm glad I got a lot of things right.

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Tenten fired his wrists noise blasters at Diamondhead. Diamondhead quickly jumped out of the way and fired his diamond shards at the robot. The diamond shards bounced harmlessly off of the metal skin. Tenten fired his sound waves again and caught Diamondhead off guard. He groaned with pain as the waves began to shatter him, but with quick movements he slammed his hands to the ground and raised up a wall of rock and mud. The rock absorbed the sound waves and Diamondhead was released from the pain.

Diamondhead smiled to himself, he still remembered that trick. Unlike most Petrosapians which are limited in their control of crystals, Diamondhead is able to utilize his power of crystals to the max. Utilizing tiny crystals that can be found in the earth, Diamondhead can move the earth wherever he chooses. As he pulls each individual crystal, the crystal themselves move the rock with it.

Diamondhead took a deep breath and then calmed himself. With quick and sharp movements he began to move the rock around him and fire it at the robot. The robot was slammed from all directions and it tried desperately to defend himself. With a slab of rock protecting him and raining stone distracting the robot, Diamondhead slowly approached the robot for the final blow.

The robot saw that he was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Diamondhead was coming towards him and he needed to do something fast. Tenten the saw the balcony that hosted Diamondhead's teammates. After doing a quick calculation of his chances of winning, Tenten fired a small missile at the balcony. Diamondhead cried out as he watched the missile scream towards his team members.

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When they saw that Tenten fired a missile at them, Upgrade and the rest of the team members quickly hit the ground and protected themselves from whatever disaster might happen to them. Ghostfreak quickly grabbed hold of Grey Matter and turned him invisible while Four Arms protected Stinkfly by hunching over her.

The missile luckily slammed into wall just below the balcony, however, unluckily the front part of the balcony was caving in. XLR8, who was nearer to the front, screamed in terror as the floor below her began to fall apart. Four Arms saw this and shouted, "XLR8!"

XLR8 then began to fall along with the rubble. As she was falling she saw Four Arms trying to reach out and save her but she knew it was too late. Closing her eyes, she waited for the impact.

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Diamondhead saw XLR8 fall from the balcony. He screamed out in anger and in disparity as he watched her plummet to the ground. Diamondhead quickly released his power over the rocks and with rapid movements, he grew out a slab of crystals from the building's wall. The crystals came out just in time and caught the falling XLR8. XLR8 landed safely upon the crystals along with the other falling rubble.

Then, Diamondhead cried out in pain for more of the malicious sound waves started cutting into his crystal skin. Tenten then released another missile at Diamondhead. Diamondhead gritted his teeth in anger.

I have failed in the past before. I wasn't able to protect myself and Asthena. Damn me, if that won't happen again. I WILL NOT FAIL!

With a rush of energy, Diamondhead sent a shower of mud and rock up from the ground and towards the missile. The rocks and mud collided with the missile and sent in careening into the sky, where it whizzed this way and that before it exploded. Diamondhead then clenched his fists and earth surrounding Tenten suddenly moved from underneath him. The mud then wrapped himself around his legs and then firmly solidified around him.

Diamondhead waved his arms again and two jet streams of mud shot from the ground and wrapped themselves around Tenten. Diamondhead clenched his fists once again and the mud snapped off the arms like it was a pair of twigs.

Diamondhead took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Feeling the life and energy of all the crystals that surrounded him, he began his final dance of destruction. Opening his eyes, he shot out a mighty wave of mud at Tenten.

The torrent of rock, mud and diamonds slammed into Tenten causing his whole body to be ripped off of his legs which were still firmly stuck to the ground. The body was pushed by the earthy material like it was a huge wave and it flew through the cold air. It flew so far that it fell beyond the edge of the ring. The body crashed upon the floor and did not move. Tenten's red eyes blinked several times before fading into darkness.

The stadium bell rang four times.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" cried the announcer, "THE MATCH IS OVER! TEAM A IS THE WINNER!"

The crowd erupted into roars, shouts and cheers even before the announcer said all of this. Diamondhead looked at the dead robot like it was the most unbelievable thing he had ever seen. He felt happy but stunned. With his win, he and his team will be able to stay at the Academy for just a little longer.

Which means…

His thoughts were then interrupted by all his team members who surrounded him and barraged him with cries of joy. It all happened so fast that he was dimly aware that he shook hands with Heatblast, punched in the shoulder by Stinkfly and given several high fives to Four Arms. But the adrenaline feelings of the battle soon left him and his feelings of happiness quickly took over. He laughed a great hardy laugh as he watched his friends jumping with joy or dancing with pride. They all then piled over him and hugged tremendously, with he still laughing.

By now, a lot of the audience came down to the fighting arena like a massive herd to congratulate the fighters. It was so overwhelming to hear these people chant his and his team member names. He almost wished he didn't have to deal with them now. Right now, he just wanted to be with his friends.

Diamondhead looked over the shoulders of the crowd and saw several injured people coming his way. He recognized them immediately and said, "Hey everybody! Look who's here!"

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Upgrade looked where Diamondhead was pointing to and he saw Blizzard and Ripjaws coming back from the medial center. He looked down and saw that Grey Matter was boasting to several students at once about how great his team was. Seeing his little friend busy, Upgrade walked over to Blizzard. When she saw him she stopped and she gave an embarrassed smile as he approached her.

"Hi…" she said.

"Hello," he replied.

"Look, Upgrade…about the future…"

Upgrade cut her off and said, "The future can wait. For now, I must ask to see if you are okay."

Upgrade didn't explicitly say that he was concerned for her. For, did he have feelings for her? Though Upgrade was nowhere near as naïve as he was about emotions when he started out in this world, he still had much to progress. Love? Devotion? Jealousy? What are these except words and descriptions that one may read from a dictionary? No book, as Upgrade has found out, can truly explain an emotion, one must experience it himself. But, if there was anyone that could teach him emotion it would be Blizzard would it not? For her emotion seemed to outweigh her reason and she seems quite proud of that. It reminded him, oddly, of Grey Matter. Always speaking his mind no matter what the consequences. He must look into this more.

If Blizzard realized that Upgrade is not sure of his feelings towards her, she did not show it on her face. Instead, she replied, "Aye. I'm okay, the medics wanted me to be in bed longer but I said screw them and I took Ripjaws and left."

Upgrade nodded and said, "Well…that is…good."

"Yes, yes it is."

Just then, several of her male supporters bounded up to her like eager dogs and started showering her with compliments about the way she looked and also the way she battled. She egotistically smiled and said that it was nothing and how she was born to fight from the day she was born.

Upgrade looked at her and realized he still had lots to learn about women and…relationships. Once she was surrounded, he quietly blended back into the crowd.

Once Blizzard finally shrugged off her admirers and looked up to see if Upgrade was still there. To her disappointment, he was not.

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Stinkfly flew through the air looking down at the crowd in dismay. Her four eyestalks twisted this way and that in hopes of finding him.

Where could he be? she thought

She put her hands to her mouth and shouted, "Ditto! Ditto!"

But it was no use, in the crowd's caucophony of noise, her own scream was drowned out.

"Come on..." she said to herself in agony, "Ditto!"

And then she saw him and he saw her. Ditto smiled and waved her down. She flew in quickly and tackled him to the ground. Once on the ground, Ditto said in spry amusement, "Well hello Stinkfly."

Stinkfly nodded her head and said, "Hello, Ditto."

"Congratulations on winning your match," said Ditto calmly as if being pinned down by a giant insect was something that happened to him every day.

"Thanks, though, I wished I was given a chance to fight."

Ditto shrugged and said, "What we want and what we get in life are not always the same."

"Yeah…"

They looked at each other in thoughtful silence, Stinkfly then said, "Well, when are you leaving?"

Ditto smiled, "Why Stinkfly, whatever do you mean?"

Stinkfly cocked her head to the side and said, "But your team lost! The rules state that the losing team goes home!"

"Oh that, turns out that that's nothing more than a ploy for us to fight our very best. Regardless on who wins or who loses, the fighters who have shown their high skill in fighting get to stick around a little longer. My team showed that they were very good so…you have not rid of me yet! Speaking of which, would you like to go on a picnic with me?"

Stinkfly smiled, "I would be delighted."

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Ripjaws pushed her way through the crowd, all the while begging her pardon for those that she slightly shoved out of the way. She still felt weak from her match and felt light headed every now and then but she was well enough that she could walk. The crowd took her by surprise, one minute she was alone with Blizzard and the next she was separated by her and a wave of students. Ripjaws kept looking this way and that until finally she found Heatblast.

She rushed towards him in a hurry and stopped right in front of him, he was busy talking to some students when he saw her. He quickly said his goodbyes and walked up to her, with flames of flickering.

Heatblast smiled and held out his hand, "Hi, my name is Heatblast and you are?"

Ripjaws smiled sheepishly and took his hand, "Ripjaws, pleasure to meet you."

Ripjaws then saw that Heatblast only had one arm, she screamed like a dying porpoise and said, "Heatblast! What happened to your arm?"

Heatblast shrugged and said, "Well, your ex-fiancé destroyed it with his water power. I'm not too worried, it will grow back in time.

"I'm so sorry about your arm!" said Ripjaws who was on the brink of tears, "I hope Cuttooth didn't hurt you!"

Heatblast shrugged and said, "Nah, it wasn't that bad. Besides, I screwed him up pretty good, plus…"

Heatblast rummaged through his knapsack and pulled out a blue orb.

"Without his Water Orb, Cuttooth is helpless out of water, he'll be spending the rest of his life in a fish bowl! Haha, took care of that son of a whore."

Ripjaws shakily took Heatblast's hand and said in a quiet voice, "You know…we have a lot to do now that your back…you've been gone for quite some time…"

Heatblast looked thoughtful to that statement and said, "Yes, and you and I have a lot to talk about."

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Four Arms stood off to the side of the arena, well away from the crowd of students. His faithful companion, Wildmutt, stood proudly by his side. Four Arms scratched Wildmutt behind the ears as he looked on to the crowd and, more intently, on all of the relationships of the students.

"I do not know why they burden themselves now with these relationships," he told to Wildmutt, "I always view relationships more trouble than they were worth."

Wildmutt looked up to him as if he could understand him. He gave a questioning grunt towards Four Arms' opinion.

"Don't think of me as some kind of person who doesn't believe in love mind you," he said as if Wildmutt could truly understand such thoughts and ideas, "It's just that…I'm not ready to settle down yet…"

Four Arms looked through the crowd and saw to his relief that Tiny wasn't there, the female Tetramand always seemed keen on doing activities that boyfriends and girlfriends usually do. At first it was fun but after awhile it got tedious and so confining. Four Arms needed to tell her that he needs his space but he still didn't have the courage to do that yet.

"But, they sure are happy, I would be too if I were in their shoes but I'm not."

Wildmutt rubbed his head against his leg, Four Arms smiled and rubbed his chin.

"Hell, what does it matter to me? I'm a prince for fighting sakes! What do princes' know about love?"

Wildmutt, clearly bored with the conversation, started scratching himself. Four Arms took that as a sign for him to shut up. Four Arms agreed because he thought the conversation was going nowhere.

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As the crowd slowly thinned around him, Diamondhead saw XLR8 ahead. She looked him squarely in the eye and she slowly approached him. Diamondhead hesitated. Then, he too walked forward and soon, the two were standing quite near each other. XLR8 looked at him and said, "Ssso, thisss isss the real you, correct?"

Diamondhead nodded.

XLR8 continued to look at him and said, "Well, congratsss on your victory, oh, and thanksss for sssaving my life."

Diamondhead gave a hint of a smile and said, "Well, you know I wouldn't have been able to win if it wasn't for your encouragement."

XLR8 blushed to this comment and said, "What'sss a girl got to do? You were just laying there being tortured…sssomeone had to help you out."

A memory flashed in his head, it was Asthena, and her death in the hands of Sixsix. Diamondhead gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"I'm not strong enough yet. I got to keep training to protect my friends. I have let them down too many times."

XLR8 took one of her crutches and hit Diamondhead on the head with it. Though he wasn't hurt by it, he was still taken aback by it. XLR8 leaned on the crutch again and said, "Idiot. You just won your battle. You helped usss win the Metal Trial. No matter how you look at it, you didn't let usss down."

XLR8 then quickly pull Diamondhead down for a hug, she then whispered, "And you certainly didn't let me down."

Diamondhead stood there, hunched over the small XLR8 in her awkward hug. Slowly, he too wrapped his rough and glittery arms around her and returned the favor.

And then he thought of Asthena.

Diamondhead let go of XLR8 and quickly backed away. XLR8 looked stunned, "What, what isss it?"

"I-I…" Diamondhead stuttered, he suddenly felt tears coming back, "I can't associate myself with you! I…I'm so sorry!"

Diamondhead screamed and he fell to the ground clutching his head. XLR8 ran up to him and yelled, "Diamondhead! Are you alright? Diamondhead!"

Diamondhead quivered there. After a brief moment, he stopped. XLR8 took him and tried to snap out of it. She was about to call medics when Diamondhead's eyes snapped open. When she saw this, she leaned forward, "Diamondhead…?"

Diamondhead then jumped up from the ground which surprised XLR8 and he shouted, "WOOHOO! We won the Metal Trial! Heck yeah! Hey, XLR8! Give me a high five!"

XLR8 was stunned, what happened? She then peered into his eyes and saw to her horror that they were blue and no longer the tiger yellow.

"Y-yang?" she stuttered, hoping beyond all hope that what she thought was what was wrong.

But it was, "Yep!" Yang said, "That's me and don't you forget it, little missy! OMG, it's Four Arms! I got to go give him a high five for his fight! Catch you later!"

He left the stunned XLR8 where she was. She watched him sprint off in agony and in despair.

"I would not feel depressed about this if I were you," said a cold and distant voice.

XLR8 jumped and saw Ghostfreak standing behind her. Ghostfreak always had the unsettling habit of sneaking up to people. XLR8 was so unnerved by her approach that she said, "W-what?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong but you have a certain attraction to Diamondhead, is that correct?"

XLR8 looked up at the calm and horrendous looking female. Normally, if anyone asked her such a question, she would hotly deny it (especially if the said person was Grey Matter). But with Ghostfreak…she could trust her but she didn't know why. Maybe because she seemed to have all of her wits unlike most of her colleagues. And maybe also she wouldn't tease her about it. XLR8 nodded and said, "Yesss, that isss true."

Ghostfreak nodded and looked at the running Diamondhead, she then said, "Funny, you two both have such tragic pasts. Maybe, that is why you two feel a connection."

"Tragic past? What do you mean?"

Ghostfreak looked at her with her one eye and slowly said, "If you do not know about Diamondhead's past then I feel I should not tell you about it. That, you should discover on your own. If you really like Diamondhead, you must see why he is what he is."

"Do you think he'll come back?" said XLR8 meaning the original Diamondhead.

Ghostfreak was silent for a moment. She then looked at Grey Matter who was busy chatting away with Upgrade merrily. She then said, "I'm sure that one day, the Tiger spirit of Diamondhead will return. It's all a matter if you are willing to face your past, as well as his. In order for a relationship to truly work, both sides must be committed."

XLR8 pondered that statement. She then nodded and said, "I think I sssee. Thanksss Ghostfreak."

"My pleasure."

Just then, an alien came up to XLR8 and Ghostfreak and said, "Excuse me misses. But we're ready to take your photograph."

"Photograph?"

"Why of course! The team that wins the round gets to have a photograph taken of them. We then frame the photograph and give them to all of the team members. Now come along!"

XLR8 and Ghostfreak looked at each other and then followed the photographer.

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"Hell yeah, bitches!" said Grey Matter as he rode on top of Upgrade, "We get to have our photograph taken!"

Upgrade gave an electronic chuckle and said, "For once, I'm not the one taking the photograph. Someone else is."

Grey Matter rubbed his bald head and said, "Alas, if only I had hair to cover up my cranium. Then I would just be too sexy!"

Upgrade rubbed his head and said, "I wouldn't, I'd just look stupid."

Grey Matter and Upgrade then walked up to the group where everyone else was taking their position for the photo. Grey Matter jumped off of Upgrade's shoulder and said, "Well! I'm going to take the front row! After all, I'm the most important member!"

XLR8, who was also in the front row, snorted, "Asss if. The only reason why you usually are in the front role isss because your ssso short!"

Grey Matter feigned a stab to his chest and said, "You cut me XLR8! You cut me deep!"

Grey Matter stood proudly in the center of the group, once everyone was in a good position, the photographer shouted, "Hold it! I still need a name for the team!"

"A name?" said XLR8 who thought the idea was preposterous.

The photographer nodded vigorously and said, "Sure! Don't tell me you want your placard to say "Team A" don't you? Now, what's the name going to be?"

"Team…Grey Matter" shouted Grey Matter.

XLR8 rolled her eyes and said, "How modest."

"Team Kickass!" shouted Stinkfly

"No, Team Vulpinmancer!" replied Four Arms.

Wildmutt barked in agreement.

"Nah, we should be Team Rainbow, since we're all the colors of the rainbow!" shouted Yang.

"Stupid…" muttered Heatblast to himself.

"Team…Awesome?" suggested Ripjaws.

"The Element Team!" shouted Blizzard.

Upgrade thought about it and said, "Oh! How about Team Omnitrix?"

Grey Matter looked up to him oddly and said, "Omnitrix? What's an Omnitrix?"

Upgrade scratched his head and said, "I…don't know…I heard it somewhere before but I don't remember where…"

Ghostfreak then said "I kind of like it…it sounds like our team is wide and dispersed. Like were All Tricks and we can handle any situation."

After some talk, everyone went with Team Omnitrix. The photographer smiled and said, "Okay! On the count of three One…two…three!"

And right before the flash went off, Grey Matter flipped off the camera.