TRIO:
			  BATTLE FOR EXCALIBER

	The small creature was submerged in the Hudson River.  Using its 
natural instincts however, it swam for the surface.

	The creature's head bobbed at the surface and its solid blue eyes 
observed the city of New York sprawled out before it.  The creature 
headed for the docks and after a long, two hour swim, it made it to 
shore and dashed into the city.

	Back at Shea Stadium...

	"'Interesting'?" Samaron asked, "How do you mean 'interesting'?"

	"I mean," Yin Yang replied, "You've got Excaliber, right?  Kinda 
doesn't give me, a humble martial artist, much of a fair shake, does 
it?"

	Yin Yang ignored several grumbled replies from the crowd about his 
"humble" remark as Samaron asked, "Your point?"

	"My point is, you say you're a warrior of honor.  Where's the honor 
in fighting me... alone, with Excaliber?"

	"Alone?" Samaron looked skeptical, "You swear on your word as a 
warrior that your friends will not interfere?"

	Yin Yang nodded and Samaron said, "Very well."

	With that, he flung Excaliber into center field, where it landed and 
the blade sunk an inch into the ground.  The crowd gasped in shock as 
Samaron continued to speak, "The object is simple.  Whoever retreaves 
Excaliber first or kills their opponent is the winner."

	Once Samaron lost contact with the mystic sword, his body mass 
reverted to its normal size, his teeth became less pronounced and his 
eyes stopped their unholy glow.

	"Hey!" Blade Bot shouted from his seat, "What's the deal with this?
!"

	"It is a matter of honor, robot," Samaron replied, "Something you 
would know nothing about."

	"Oh I trust you," Blade Bot shot back, his voice laced with sarcasm, 
"It's those two," he indicated Sailor Moon and Sayaman, "taking five 
over there, I don't trust.

	"In fact," the leader of the Robotics Department added thoughtfully 
as he turned to Lujane, "with your permission, I'd like to make SURE 
they don't get involved."

	The purple haired leader of the Inner Four considered Blade Bots 
request and then looked at her husband, who shrugged slightly in 
reply.  "I see no problem with it," she said.

	Blade Bot nodded and then looked at the audience.  After taking a 
second to decide, he pointed to one of his creations and said, "You!  
Get in there and fight!"

	"Right-o!" the robot he had chosen replied as it jumped out of its 
seat and landed near home plate, where Sailor Moon and Sayaman had 
backed off to.

	The robot was six feet in height, was colored a dull purple, zero 
mouth and no visible eyes made it's facial features, and it had a 
double barreled silver tube in place of its right hand.  "I," the 
robot exclaimed in a deep baritone, "am P.Pitcher!  And yer outta 
here!"

	Yin Yang scowled at Samaron and the samurai bowed once as he replied,
 "My apologies but I prefer making sure someone holds to their 
promises."

	"Fine," Yin Yang replied and then took an offensive Kempo stance, 
"Let's go."

	Samaron took a defensive Sho Rin Ruu stance as he replied, "I am 
prepared."

	With an ear splitting battle cry, Yin Yang charged Samaron and 
performed a spinning roundhouse right kick as his opening gambit.  
Samaron blocked the blow and answered with a forward punch which Yin 
Yang was able to block as well.  Yin Yang ducked under another punch 
and hit Samaron in the stomach with the point of his left elbow.  The 
samurai grunted and answered with a knee to his opponents face.

	Samaron lashed out with his tail but Yin Yang back flipped and 
twisted in midair to avoid his opponents limb.  Yin Yang reared back 
his fist when he landed and cried, "KATCHU TENSHIN AMAGURAI KEN!"

	"Not this time," Samaron growled as he moved superhumanly fast and 
dodged every one of the punches, "after our last encounter, I trained 
to increase my speed.  Your technique will no longer work so easily.
"

	The hero stopped his attack and the two paused, sizing each other up.
  Then, facing each other the whole time, the two began to run 
towards center field.

	Meanwhile, P.Pitcher was aiming his weapon at the other two members 
of the Trio and taunted, "Alright, who's up at bat first?"

	Sayaman, who was still down on one knee, said, "I'll go.  And I'm 
going to score two points."

	Sailor Moon felt sweat gathering on her neck as she said, "Umm... 
that's basket ball."

	Sayaman blinked and asked, "Score a touchdown?"

	"That's football."

	"Get a goal?"

	"Soccer."

	"Hole in one?"

	"Golf."

	At this point, P.Pitcher was boiling and roared, "WILL YOU JUST 
ADMIT THAT YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT BASEBALL AND GET ON WITH IT?
!"

	"I may not know about baseball," Sayaman replied as he pulled 
himself to his feet, "but I do know about defeating evil... And I 
shall.  For I am Gre... ARRRRR!"

	Sayaman clutched his side where Excaliber had pierced his flesh.  
The pain returning and coursing like fire through his body, the blood 
mark growing in size slightly.  He fell back to his his kneeling 
position as Sailor Moon stepped in front of him.  Looking over her 
shoulder, she asked, "Are you okay?"

	Sayaman winced again but looked up and replied, "Not really."

	"Stay here," the Senshi said as she flashed the victory sign at her 
friend, "I'm gonna knock this guy outta the ball park."

	"Hey!" the robot called out as it charged, "The rain delay's over!  
It's time to play ball!"

	P.Pitcher swung at Sailor Moon, but it was so slow that she was 
easily able to jump over the attack and when she landed, she turned 
and ducked as P.Pitcher spun around and tried to nail her again with 
a high strike with its right arm.  Still using the special attachment 
on its right arm as a weapon, P.Pitcher tried to ram it into Sailor 
Moon's stomach but the young girl was simply too fast for the 
plodding robot and that, added to the fact that Ranma was a REALLY 
good teacher, she was able to parry and dodge the attacks.

	Finally, after the fifth stab, Sailor Moon grabbed the arm and then 
used it to pull the robot towards her and hit it with an open hand 
strike, making P.Pitcher take a step back.

	The two paused and then, Sailor Moon clutched her hand and screamed, 
"YEEEEEOUCH!  OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!"

	The purple robot chuckled and said, "Nice tagging.  Now, let's test 
your skills at the plate."

	The two backed off again but before P.Pitcher could do anything, 
Sayaman formed a ki ball in his right hand and shouted, "You first!"

	With that, he flung the yellow projectile at the robot.  However, P.
Pitcher extended a pole from the top hole on the attachment on its 
right hand and, using it as a bat, smashed the projectile away.  
Sailor Moon screamed as she ducked under it and the attack landed and 
exploded between Samaron and Yin Yang as they were halfway in middle 
field.

	"Watch it..." Yin Yang yelled as the two of them jumped away from 
the explosion.

	"... you malfunctioning fool!" Samaron finished.

	The two didn't wait for a response from the infield as they charged 
each other again and both of them threw a straight kick.  Their legs 
collided in mid-swing and they each pushed their legs against each 
others in a most unusual test of strength.  As they struggled, Yin 
Yang said, "You'll never regain that sword Samaron.  You don't 
deserve it."

	The samurai bristled and replied, his voice filled with a cold anger,
 "I have spent over half my life looking for Excaliber.  An impudent 
young pup, like yourself, shall not take it from me."

	Samaron added a second burst of strength to his leg and forced Yin 
Yang's leg away.  Yin Yang spun to regain his balance and when he was 
facing Samaron again, the dragon samurai threw a punch at his face.  
Yin Yang blocked the punch and answered with one of his own but 
Samaron blocked that and attempted an overhead chop, which Yin Yang 
swept away and answered with an attempted elbow to the stomach.  The 
Inner Four member blocked that and knocked the hero's arm away.

	The two of them then locked their hands against each others and 
began a test of strength.  Both of them growled low in their throats 
as they tried to out muscle each other.  Samaron felt his hands 
beginning to give but swept Yin Yangs feet out from under him with 
his tail.  Unfortunately, Yin Yang held onto his opponents hands as 
he fell and turned the fall into a monkey flip.  Samaron quickly got 
up to his feet as Yin Yang began heading for Excaliber again and 
stopped him with another tail swing.

	Yin Yang rolled with the fall and faced his foe again.  "He's 
slowing down," the hero thought, "this might work now."

	Aloud, he cried, "KATCHU TENSHIN AMAGURAI KEN!" as his fists flew at 
a speed no normal human could ever hope to match.

	Samaron moved quickly again, avoiding almost all of the punches.

	Almost.

	At first, it was one fist grazing him.  Then one hit him squarely in 
the chest.  Then one struck him in the stomach.  Then more and more 
and more and more.

	Samarons defences crumbled under Yin Yangs fierce assault as the 
blows hit him more times then even the robots processors could keep 
up with.  Then, the dragon samurai began to fall backwards, eyes 
closed, as Yin Yang stopped his attack.  Lujane had just started to 
gasp in horror when Samaron suddenly open his eyes, snapped forward 
and roared, "I.." he hit his foe in the stomach with a powerful punch,
 "WILL..." he hit Yin Yang with a roundhouse left kick, "*NOT*..." he 
continued his assault by raising a knee to Yin Yangs chin, "BE BEATEN.
.." an elbow struck the hero across the face, "BY YOU!"

	Yin Yang spun and hit the ground hard.  Samaron started to limp 
slowly towards Excaliber but stopped as Yin Yang, his nose broken and 
bleeding, forced himself to his feet and went into a fighting stance. 
 Samaron faced him again and took his stance as well.  Both of them 
knew that, while they still looked good to go, they were both ready 
to collapse at any moment.

	"We are evenly matched," Samaron said, "only recovering Excaliber 
will decide the winner."

	"I don't think so," Yin Yang replied as an aura of power began to 
glow around him, "You see, I've got the power to kick your scaly butt 
over the river."

	"Are you certain that you have enough energy for that technique?" 
Samaron asked tauntingly, "It would be a shame that this true battle 
ended with you simply passing out from wasting your energy on a 
missed attack."

	"It won't miss," Yin Yang replied, his confidence becoming more 
intense with each word, "and I sure as hell have enough energy to use 
it on the likes of you!"

	The aura began to swell, becoming more powerful and reaching its 
peak.

	Meanwhile, P.Pitcher had retracted its "bat" and was aiming its 
attachment at Sailor Moon.  "Let's see how you handle my fast ball," 
it taunted and a metal projectile in the shape of a baseball fired 
forth from the bottom hole in the attachment and smashed her in the 
stomach.

	Before Sailor Moon could react, it fired again and this time, the 
projectile hit her in the left shoulder.  Another came out and hit 
her in the other shoulder.  The robot snorted and said as the young 
woman doubled over, "You'll never make it to the majors at this rate! 
 Heck, you're not even good enough for the Double AA."

	Red energy began to gather in the opening of the attachment, 
becoming a ball shaped projectile.  "However," the robot continued, 
"I think it's time for a change up.  Let's see you eat my Power 
Pitch!"

	P.Pitcher reared back into an overdone windup and flung his arm 
forward, releasing the deadly ball of energy with all of his might.  
Sailor Moon would not have survived the attack had it not been for 
Sayaman flinging himself into its path.

	Under normal circumstances, the attack probably wouldn't hurt him.  
However, as luck would have it, the attack struck him in the weak 
link of his "armor".

	"ARRRRRRGH!" he screamed in agony as the energy ball hit him in his 
injured side and made the pain so bad that he almost passed out.

	"SAYAMAN!" Sailor Moon yelled in alarm as he was flung away by the 
explosion the ball created.

	Yin Yang, his energy still growing, turned at the cry and Samaron 
used the distraction to jump over him and make a final break for 
Excaliber.  "Oh no you don't," Yin Yang said as he spun and cried, 
"MOKO TAKABISHIA!"

	The ki attack erupted from Yin Yangs hands and smashed Samaron to 
the ground, his hand mere inches from Excaliber.  "No..." he moaned 
in frustration, "I... won't... lose."

	"Got... news... for you," Yin Yang rasped as he limped towards the 
sword, "... you... have."

	His hand just began to touch the hilt of Excaliber when Samarons 
right hand also clamped down on it.  The two of them began to 
struggle and both pulled the weapon out of the ground as Samaron 
stood tall once again and began to regain the form he had when 
Excaliber had first powered him up.

	However, Yin Yang had a transformation as well.  His costume began 
to morph, becoming a full suit of medieval style armor.  The left 
half of the armor was a pure white, with the boot and the half of the 
face plate on that side a rich black.  The other side was inverted, 
with black armor and a white boot and faceplate half.

	The energy of Excaliber erupted from the sword.  White bolts of 
light shot throughout the stadium, forcing many of the people in the 
stands to duck, for fear of being incinerated by the powerful beams.  
Lujane stood, ignoring the chaos around her as she focused fully on 
the now fully mental conflict between the two combatants in the 
outfield.  "Endgame," she whispered too softly for anyone to hear 
over the commotion around her.

	The two fighting in the infield had turned their attention towards 
the outfield as well, but quickly turned their attention back to each 
other when they saw that the conclusion would not come quickly.  
However, P.Pitcher noticed that there was now a smile of confidence 
on Sailor Moon's face.  "What's with you?" it asked.

	"Do you see that?" Sailor Moon replied as she indicated where her 
boyfriend and his foe were grappling for the sword, "Only little more 
then two weeks ago, he could barely even think of fighting without 
being afraid.  Now he's fighting for a powerful weapon without a hint 
of fear.  He's going to win... and so am I."

	With that, she drew the Heart Scepter and held it like a baseball 
bat.  "Come on," she taunted, "give me your best shot."

	P.Pitcher bristled with anger and gathered the energy for its Power 
Pitch again as it snarled, "Your 'Great' friend couldn't stop it!  
What makes you think you can?!"

	"I can," Sailor Moon replied, "I WILL!"

	A wordless grunt emanated from the robot as it hurled the Power 
Pitch at the Senshi.  Sailor Moon took a deep breath and swung.

	The sound of a magic weapon deflecting a scientific energy ball 
filled her ears, as the Scepter collided with the ball and sent it 
back at it source, with a little extra energy for a more powerful 
kick.  P.Pitcher screamed in surprise as the ball hit it and collapse 
to the ground.  It systems beyond repair, the robots self destruct 
activated and it melted to slag, then dust, and then nothing but a 
black outline on the ground.

	The energy gathering around Samaron and Yin Yang reached a peak and 
suddenly, a golden shaft of light came from the tip and projected the 
image of an old, wize looking wizard, with long white hair and an 
equally long white beard.  He wore a purple robe with astrological 
symbols on it and a tall, pointy hat with the same.  He looked at the 
two who struggled for the sword and spoke.

	"I," he said, "am the spirit of Excaliber.  I have taken the form of 
one who is connected to the legend of this sword and so will make 
this easier to understand.

	"I," he continued, "will only accept the most worthy one when I am 
caught in a conflict such as this."

	He pointed an old, withered hand at Samaron and said the words the 
samurai never wanted to hear in his entire life.  "You are not worthy 
enough."

	"NOOOOOO!" Samaron roared in outrage as the energy suddenly left him 
and a bolt of light struck him, making him release his grip on 
Excaliber.

	Now with the power of the sword only running through him, Yin Yang 
raised the weapon high in the air and the spirit vanished as the hero 
let out a shout of victory and a pillar of white light shot from the 
sword and into the early afternoon sky.  "No," Samaron moaned on the 
ground, "I spent years searching for that sword... it can't end like 
this."

	From her box seat, Lujane cried for the obvious grief her husband 
felt.  "Come," she said to the others, "gather your forces and let us 
depart.  The day has been lost."

	"WHAT?!" Seer roared in outrage, "You wish to leave with that... BOY.
.. possessing Excaliber?!"

	"My sensors are giving me power readings now Seer," Blade Bot said, 
"You've got a mystic sense that does something similar.  Scan him and 
tell me if you honestly think that, even with all of us combined, we 
can beat him this day."

	Seer did so and when he finally spoke, his voice carried a tone of 
acceptance, "Very well.  We shall depart."

	In less then a minute, all of the Eclipse Syndicate except for 
Samaron and Lujane had left.  Samaron weakly turned towards his 
weeping wife and a lone tear fell down his face as well as he put his 
right fore and middle fingers in the exact center of his forehead and 
teleported away.  Lujane hit the teleporter device on her right arm 
and she left as well, leaving only the victorious heroes.

	The pillar of light vanished as Yin Yang lowered Excaliber and held 
it out in front of him.  It was his now.  He was the strongest 
warrior on earth.

	No, something internally told him, this power level was not 
perminant.  It would only last until midnight, then it would lose 
much of the energy within it.  However, it would still be a powerful 
weapon and a welcome addition in the fights to come.

	"RANMA," Sailor Moon cried with glee as she launched herself at him 
and hugged him with all her might, "that was INCREDIBLE!"

	She looked at the armor and said, "I like the new look, although it 
makes hugging a bit tough.  Is it perminant?"

	"Only when I use the sword," Yin Yang replied as he used some more 
of the knowledge that the sword was feeding him and willed it into a 
sub space pocket.

	With the sword no longer in physical contact, yet ready to be 
summoned at a moments notice if need be, Yin Yangs costume reverted 
to its normal form.  "You were right you know," Sailor Moon continued,
 "I was worried over nothing... and you know what that means."

	Yin Yang felt sweat gathering on his neck as he replied, "Hey... 
wait a minute!  What about Gohan?  If I remember right, I said 'if 
NONE of us got hurt'."

	"Actually," Sayaman replied, standing only a foot away from them, 
"I've never felt better."

	Yin Yang detached himself from his girlfriend and walked over to 
Sayaman.  He then began poking at the wound in Sayamans side, adding 
a little of the "Chestnut Fist" to his efforts and asked, "Doesn't 
that hurt?"

	"Nope," Sayaman replied, his voice strangely level as his right 
eyebrow twitched, "Not one bit."

	"Come on man," Yin Yang whispered too low for Sailor Moon to hear, 
"I love her and all, but I can't afford to pay for EVERYTHING on a 
date right now."

	Sayaman whispered back, "Consider this my revenge for not warning me 
this morning."

	Sailor Moon gave Yin Yang her best puppy dog eyes as he turned away 
from Sayaman and the pigtailed martial artist sighed as he said, 
"Okay, you win."

	"I don't know why," Ranma thought as the three of them left Shea 
Stadium, which was filled with holes in both the stands and field, 
"but I feel sorry for Samaron."

END OF EPISODE

NEXT: A creature of evil, which is part of a centuries old contest 
between Heaven and Hell, is going to be reborn on Earth.  A God and a 
Goddess come to recruit our heroes to fight it.  The next episode of 
TRIO features some special guests.  But will even they be able to 
save the world?  Will they be allowed to?

Find out in: TRIO: (Special guest appearance by Oh! My Brother) DEATH 
GHIDORA: (Part 1) RECRUITMENT