New Sheriffs in Town, Chapter Three

[lonewolfprincess]

The Bull Demon King sighed deeply, contently as he took in the view around him, at his proper height for the first time in centuries, power coursing through his veins. Hundreds of humans enthralled to his bidding, a handful of them holding the Bailey brothers still to bind them head to toe in chains. A snap of his hoof-armored fingers, and his other six hostages were brought on display as well, all chained, the Sun and Moon Dragons also bearing gags around their mouths, the Moon Dragon also getting a muzzle to deal with her thrashing transformation. What could be more perfect?

Clay gasped at seeing his friends and family bound, thrashing against his own chains too.

“Let ’em go right now, you dirty snake, or I’ll—!”

“Ahhh, there.” The Bull Demon King ignored Clay’s threats, even seemed happy as his bolo tie pulsed rust red. “Now it’s a proper coronation party.” The King chuckled as he examined his horns. “You have no idea how glad I am to be rid of that ridiculous human form. Not to mention that stupid accent!”

“Hey!” All three Bailey siblings shouted indignantly.

“Oh, hush, you know I’m right.” He pursed his bovine lips as if in thought. “Although you do have a point; I really should be more grateful. After all, if it weren’t for this land, full of strong warriors waiting to be unleashed from the honor tying them down, I might never have been freed.” His smile turned wicked as he fiddled with the bolo tie. “Well… plus a little gift from a mutual friend.”

Everyone’s minds reeled. This wasn’t quite Chase’s style, and it definitely wasn’t Wuya’s or Jack’s. So that meant…

“Hannibal Bean…” Raimundo growled.

“Ah, aren’t you a bright one?” The Bull Demon King chuckled. “He asked me to send his regards, by the way, in his convalescence.”

Raimundo gave a grim smirk, pleased that the little demon was still licking the wounds they gave him during that big battle after his promotion to Shoku Warrior.

“Quit your jawing, you oversized cow pie!” Jessie thrashed harder against her chains. “Let me out of here and I’ll show you a real fight! I’ll tan your hide for sandals, you ain’t even worth being boots!”

The Bull Demon King merely threw back his head in laughter.

“Oh, you are a spitfire!” He chuckled some more. “It truly is a shame your father doesn’t appreciate you.” The Bailey siblings all gasped before gritting their teeth. “Imagine my delight, learning that the Xiaolin Dragon of the Earth himself hailed from such a perfect little haven, all but ruled by his family. So honorable, so well-respected… so broken. All I had to do was set up a stage and enjoy the show.”

The gluttonous grin on his face made all their stomachs drop. He targeted Clay’s home, his family… on purpose?

The Bull Demon King stepped up to Patrick, the boy’s face frozen with terror. What had he done?

“I must thank you for giving me the last bit of strife I needed, boy. Or… right, it’s the Man-o-Taur, isn’t it?” The Demon grinned at his horrified face. “As a show of gratitude, I’ll kill you second, swiftly and honorably. After I grant your wish… for your brother’s silence.”

“What—no, no you don’t, Clay!” Patrick struggled in vain against the chains as the Bull Demon King dragged his club towards his brother. “Clay, I’m sorry—get away from him, you monster!”

The Bull Demon King just ignored his pleas and the others’ shouts and struggles, raising his club high.

“Any last words, Xiaolin Dragon of the Earth?”

Clay glared straight into the Bull Demon King’s eyes. He needed to think, needed to—

“I said get away from my brother!” Patrick screamed out, eyes flashing bright blue. “Star Souzu!”

Everyone gasped, especially Patrick, not knowing where the heck that name came from. The Star clearly did, though, the golden light cool as the water of a churning river through his costume as it spun on the tie and unleashed a swirling vortex of water from its sapphire, aimed straight at the Bull Demon King’s black heart.

“AHHH!” The Bull Demon king was flung out of the circle of hostages from the sheer force of the whirlpool, knocking him to the floor of the ring.

Everyone blinked at Patrick, then at Clay.

“Did you just make a whole new Shen Gong Wu, dude?! What the heck?!” Raimundo cried out. The Brush could do that?! They could do that?!

Clay shook his head vigorously, just as baffled. “Don’t look at me! It weren’t on purpose!”

The Bull Demon King growled as he stood up. “I don’t care how many trinkets you have—”

“Oh, then you won’t mind one more, you overgrown handbag?!” Jessie called out with a fierce grin, deep blue eyes flashing emerald green. “Star Fuusha!”

The glowing Star against her collarbone was as warm as a hot summer wind as a cyclone shot out, knocking the Bull Demon King into the ropes. He growled as he stood up to the sound of everyone’s cheers.

“Cute…” The Bull Demon King sneered. “Reminds me a bit of my wife, without any of her skill…”

Jessie blinked, and then snorted. “Some poor girl married you? Lemme guess, did you kidnap her? Or is she blind as a worm and just as dumb?”

“What?!” The Bull Demon Kind snorted hot steam as the teenagers all laughed. “How dare you—”

A clatter of chains cut him off, and Jessie smirked as she dramatically rolled her shoulder. That was just the latest in a long line of mistakes, thinking that the two-time queen of the Black Vipers could be held by chains and a simple lock.

“I told you to quit your jawin’,” she said with a light singsong. “Wings of Tinabi!”

The Bull Demon King screamed as Jessie ricocheted across the ring, unlocking Clay and Patrick’s chains on the fly and gaining extra hands to free the others. With everyone safe, Jessie banked hard to give the Bull Demon King a literally flying kick to his face!

“YOW!” The Bull Demon King clutched his nose. “I just got this face back, you brat!”

“Oh hush!” Jessie called out as she landed. “A bruise on that mug’s like a dent on a junked car!”

“Why you little—!”

“Everyone!” Omi called out as he transformed the Shimo Staff into a chakram. “Aim for the face and horns when possible, preferably with fire attacks!”

Kimiko grinned wildly. “On it! Cat’s Eye Draco! Arrow Sparrow, Fire!” A flick of her wrist, and the Arrows surged forth and merged into a giant phoenix, looping through the air before slamming into the giant bull’s face!

“AAAARGH!”

“Crescent Fang!” Mia, already half-transformed at being restrained and seeing her loved ones in peril, glowed and shifted into a pure wolf, lunging at the Bull Demon King’s arm and clamping her jaws around his wrist.

“GRAAAAH!” He shook his arm furiously. “Get off me, you little—!”

“Lasso Boa-Boa!” The Lasso glowed as it wrapped itself tightly around the Bull Demon King’s legs, biting for extra purchase as Clay pulled, sending the bull toppling to the ring floor.

The Bull Demon King looked up to find eight teenagers circling him, Shen Gong Wu pointed right in his face.

“Mess with the Xiaolin Dragons, and you get the horns, Bull Demon Chump,” Raimundo quipped.

The Bull Demon King… chuckled. Why was he chuckling?

“Have you forgotten already?” He flashed them a dark grin. “Fighting only makes me stronger.”

“… Uh-oh.”

The Bull Demon King shoved them all away as he shot to his hoofs, knocking them violently into the ropes around the ring and scattering the Shen Gong Wu.

He chuckled as he picked up his club. “I must thank you all for the warm-up. It’s been far too long since I had a match against worthy opponents… so now I’ll be nice and limber once I finally find some.”

He laughed heartily as he bent down to pick up the Sphere of Yun, just a little souvenir for this victory… and a human hand, large by normal measures but only half the size of his, fell on the metal, the bronze and gold frame suddenly flaring with golden light.

“Not so fast, you varmint…!” Clay ground out. “I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown!”

The Bull Demon King blinked… and howled with laughter.

“You’re challenging me?! To a one-on-one match?!” The Bull Demon King couldn’t stop laughing. “Whole armies of divine warriors only brought me to heel by the skin of their teeth, boy! You can’t even beat your little brother in a fistfight!”

Clay opened his mouth for a retort—

“Then it’s a good thing this ain’t a one-on-one match…!” Patrick growled as he set his hand on top of Clay’s. “You say I released you? Well, we’re gonna lock you back up, you ugly steer!”

“Count me in.” Fingerless gloves rested on top of the boys’ hands. “You think I’m gonna let you boys have all the fun? Think again!”

Clay blinked at them both, smile soft before strengthening, eyes bright and confident as his gaze met the Bull Demon King’s.

“Well now… looks like we’ve got ourselves a good ol’ Cosmic Clash Showdown. And why don’t we make it a Shen Yi Bu Dare too, for kicks? I’ll wager the Star Hanabi and the Lasso Boa-Boa.”

Jessie pulled out the Wings. “The Wings of Tinabi and the Star Fuusha!”

Patrick looked over the scattered Shen Gong Wu. “The Star Souzu and the Reversing Mirror!”

The Bull Demon King chuckled dryly. “Adorable… But alas, I have no Shen Gong Wu of my own to wager.”

Clay shrugged cooly. “Guess I’ll lend you some, to be sporting. Take your pick of six.” He ignored everyone’s shout of “WHAT?!” at him lending Shen Gong Wu to an already all-powerful demon, let alone half a dozen of them. “And uh… what do you say to a little side bet, Mr. King, sir?”

“Oh?” The Bull Demon King smirked as he grabbed the Meteor Maul, Mikado Arm, Which-Switch, Fist of Tebigong, Two-Ton Tunic, and Thorn of Thunderbolt, intrigued. “What kind of side bet?”

“If we win, not only do we get all the Shen Gong Wu here, but we get that fancy bolo tie of yours, and you’ll get banished to a location of our choosing, as a human, never to set foot in Texas again.”

“Ha! Well now, it looks like you have some spine after all!” The Bull Demon King grinned. “But if I win… all of Texas will be mine forever, and you and your family will serve me with undying loyalty, for all eternity…!”

Clay looked to his siblings… and they all nodded grimly.

“Deal.”

The other Xiaolin Dragons gasped in horror, voices drowning each other out as they protested.

“Now then, what challenge do you have in mind, Little Dragon?”

Clay merely gestured around to the perfectly square ring… holding a bull.

“Cow herding, of course.”

Everyone gaped. “WHAT?!”

“Yup, cow herding.” Clay just gave an easy smile. “Whoever gets the most cows in their pen in fifteen minutes wins. Should be easy enough for a bull demon like yourself, right?”

“You’re betting your family’s freedom and the whole state of Texas… on cow herding.” Raimundo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sure, why not? Maybe I should bet Brazil on a musical chairs Showdown sometime…”

The Bull Demon King smirked, shaking his head in amusement.

“Easy indeed. Very well, boy, I accept your challenge!”

“Let’s Go, Xiaolin Showdown!”



The limestone ceiling above them cracked and crumbled away, and the floor shot them up towards the surface where the stars shone unnaturally bright and the waxing crescent moon hung large and close in the sky, the land dry and flat save for the randomly placed hay bales. The fake construction site and gaudy red mansion were broken up like toy blocks, reassembled into two giant corrals, one marked with the Xiaolin crest, the other with the silhouette of a crowned bull’s head. The Bull Demon King and his opponents all sat on floating saddles, much like Clay’s Showdown for the Star Hanabi years ago.

Clay now donned his Xiaolin Armor… and so did his siblings. Jessie looked down in awe at the navy and gold silk, at the golden wings emblazoned on her chest, not a snake in sight. Patrick’s tabard, meanwhile, bore a white bull’s skull, the utility belt from his Man-o-Taur costume still strapped on over the tabard and red sash.

Everyone else was shot into the sky by a column of limestone to spectate.

“Gong Yi Tanpai!”

For a few moments, the field was still, quiet. Then, a few stones beneath their saddles began to tremble… then clatter… than jump. A deep rumble surged through the ground below them, one every competitor knew in their bones.

Clay gasped! “STAMPEDE!”

The Bailey siblings barely had time to steer their saddles up above the ground before a crushing flood of hundreds—no, thousands of cattle surged through the land. The Bull Demon King, with his giant form, only needed to rise a foot or two higher, the herd swerving around him like a river around a boulder.

Clay gritted his teeth as he took in the roiling stampede below; panicked, judging from the bellowing moos. He should’ve known better than to expect a calm herd that just needed slow and steady guidance to the paddock.

“Alright, gang, let’s circle ’em up and then serpentine towards the paddock! I’ll take point; Jessie, with me on the left swing! Patty, take the right flank; fly around to the left once they start circling!”

The Bailey twins nodded and complied, Jessie with a determined smile, Patrick with a more troubled look on his face. Patrick took his place at the back of the stampede, letting out a loud “ha!” to drive them left towards his siblings, who in turn drove them right, right, right until they began to circle like a school of fish, the cows’ frantic mooing slowly quieting in volume as the rounded motions soothed them.

“Phew…” Clay wiped his forearm across his bangs. “Now we just need to—”

“Gather them into my pen?” The Bull Demon King gave a bloodthirsty grin, the Maul grown to the size of a pine tree as he raised it high above his head. “Don’t mind if I do. Mikado Arm!” His already impressive arms bulged with even more muscle. “Meteor Maul!”

The hammer’s head slammed into the ground, cracking it like shatterproof glass. A massive cloud of dust started to kick up, before every mote was slammed back down to earth, along with every cow and every magical saddle. Even the Bull Demon King struggled under the crushing gravity, but managed to stay on his knees as his massive hands simply began plucking a few cows from the herd like bread loaves, crawling until free from the Maul’s field, and dropping them into his paddock.

“Too easy indeed…” He chuckled as he returned for another round.

The Bailey siblings all struggled in the dirt, trying to find purchase to stand when it was hard to even breathe, their ribcages struggling as if the Bull Demon King was standing right on top of them.

Patrick’s teeth gritted as he fought to aim his Shen Gong Wu. “R-Reversing Mirror…!”

The Maul suddenly shot into the air, flinging the startled cows, cowpokes, and even the Bull Demon King up with it.

Jessie laughed triumphantly as her brothers flailed in the air. “Now that’s more like it! Wings of Tinabi!”

She whooped as the golden wings shot out and she blazed through the air. The Shen Gong Wu’s flight path was erratic, even more so with the decreased gravity, but Jessie had a year to master the twisting and juking flow of the Wings, able to steer towards the Bull Demon King just as he righted himself to float just a few feet off the ground… and sent another flying kick to his rump.

“GAH!” If the Bull Demon King could have jumped at the sharp kick, he would have. Instead, he shook a fist at the girl while the other hand rubbed his backside. “Would you stop that?!”

“What’s the matter, Your Majesty? I thought you liked fighting!” She threw a thumbs up at her brothers, which they read clearly. ‘I’ll keep him distracted, y’all round up the cows!’

The Bailey brothers shared a nod before Clay turned to the herd, desperately trying to nudge the utterly baffled cows towards the pen that, miraculously, stayed anchored in the ground.

“C’mon, Patty, we’ve gotta get a move on!”

“I’m trying!”

Patrick tried to shove one of the heavier cows towards the pen by the rump, mostly succeeding until the cow decided to kick him, sending him flying through the air. Clay gasped, giving his cow one last push towards the pen before flying over to grab his little brother’s wrist.

“Gotcha!” Clay’s triumphant, relieved smile faded in an instant as Patrick yanked his arm free with a growl. “It’s okay, don’t get frustrated—”

“Why not?!” Patrick shouted, hands balled into fists. “This whole thing is my fault! I-I’m the one who started the last fight that bull demon needed to get loose! I beat you up and then almost got you killed, and now I can’t even fix it?!” Patrick panted hard, tears welling at the corners of his eyes. “I ain’t no hero, I’m just a screwup…!”

Clay floated there frozen, heart sinking… before pulling his baby brother into the tightest hug possible.

“No, you ain’t,” he said softly.

“Tch, sure I’m not…” Patrick hastily scrubbed at an eye. “Look, I know we don’t got time for this, let’s—”

“Too bad, because I’m making time,” Clay cut in, face as determined as if facing down an enemy. “You ain’t a screwup, Patrick. You’re smarter than me and Jessie put together, you figured out that no-good demon’s plan all by yourself, you made all those gadgets, and you put in the work to be ready for that tournament. You’re just new, and you’re only gonna keep getting better from here!”

Patrick scoffed again. “Easy for you to say… You make everything you do look easy, Mr. Perfect.”

Clay rolled his eyes. “That old song again… Ma was the one who praised me most of the time; Daddy just kept barking orders and mistakes at me like a hound treeing a coon. Took me yelling at him during the Star Hanabi’s Showdown to get him to finally lay off me. Which, by the way, you know that’s the last time I’ve won a Showdown on my own? All the others? Either a group victory, or I’ve had my hat handed to me. Three in a row so far.”

Patrick blinked… and then snorted, a faint smile blooming. “You? Losing at anything?”

“All the dang time!” Clay couldn’t help a little laugh. “I could show you a list long as the Rio of all the times I’ve messed up!”

All those Showdowns; his stint as a leader in the other timeline, too frozen by fear and focused on just surviving in a razed world to help save it; every single time someone went to the dark side because he hadn’t done enough to support them. But most of all…

“You know my biggest mistake, though?” He looked Patrick square in the eyes. “Getting so caught up in how Daddy was treating me, that I didn’t see how much you and Jessie were hurting too. I’m so sorry, Pat…”

Oh. Patrick was trying so hard not to cry, but… an apology, for all those years? Being seen? All from Clay, who always seemed like this untouchable paragon of a Bailey cowboy, everything he wasn’t?

It took every ounce of willpower to not pull his brother back in and sob into his shoulder. But right now, there was a lot more at stake than some broken hearts. So, he took a deep breath and nodded.

“Thanks. I’m… I’m sorry too.” With that, he steeled his face. “Now let’s rack up another group victory for you.”

Clay began to grin—

“Uh, boys? This is sweeter than pecan pie and all, but…”

The boys’ heads whipped towards their sister’s voice… to see her staring at them with an annoyed look, the Bull Demon King gripping her like a doll in one massive hand, the Two-Ton Tunic shielding his torso.

“How touching indeed…” The Bull Demon King drawled with an eye roll. “I assume you know the deal… Forfeit the Showdown, or I crush your little sister. Simple enough, right?”

Jessie scoffed. “Why? Don’t think you can win on your own, Ground Chuck?”

The Bull Demon King growled as his grip tightened. “Five… four…”

Patrick growled. “I’ve got me a better idea. You let her go, and we won’t make it hurt.”

The Bull Demon King chuckled again. “Three…”

“Suit yourself.” Patrick held the Star Souzu in one hand, and pulled a canister from his belt in the other. “Star Souzu!”

Patrick blasted the whole can of pepper spray into the torrent as it rushed straight towards the Bull Demon King’s face.

“GRAAAH!”

The Bull Demon King dropped his hostage to block the spray from his head, only succeeding in getting his arms wet too as Jessie dashed away on the Wings to her brothers’ side. He tried to wipe the water from his face… his burning, stinging face, eyes swollen and nose filling with snot, making it hard to breathe and impossible to see.

“What—” The mighty Bull Demon King gave a ragged cough. “What did you do to me, you brat?!”

“Awww, guess you don’t got much of a spice tolerance, Mr. King?” Patrick dissed with a sweet voice.

Both his siblings and the spectators howled with laughter at the diss, whooped at the successful gambit, which only inflamed the Bull Demon King more.

“You will wish for death by the time I—!”

Clay just held out the Star Hanabi. He had no idea how the image or the words came into his head, but… it felt right.

“Ready, y’all?”

The twins nodded as they held up their Stars. “Ready!”

“Star Fuusha!” The Star glowed with that summer breeze warmth in Jessie’s hand, the emerald’s light slowly building.

“Star Souzu!” His Star’s glow was cool, soothing, the gold and sapphire sparking like the sun on a lake.

“Star Hanabi, Earth!” The former Lone Star of Texas’s ruby glowed like lava, gentle but incredibly hot.

“Grrrh…!” The Bull Demon King tried to snort, but failed to clear his clogged sinuses. “I will not be beaten by a bunch of mortal children—!”

The Stars’ glows brightened, pulsing in time like a heartbeat.

“STARS TENYARI!”

Bright winds, pure water, and molten lava all braided together as they shot towards the Bull Demon King, converging into the bright point of starlight aimed right for his face, eyes open just enough to see his oncoming demise.

“Nonono—ARGH!”

The blast knocked the Bull Demon King to his back, bulldozing him through the dry earth at lightning speed until his head collided with the pillar of stone the other Xiaolin Dragons stood on, hard enough for them to fall to their knees and cling to the rock to avoid falling off.

The Bull Demon King groaned, clutching his head… before he lolled back, unconscious.

The Bailey siblings all whooped, Jessie punching the air before Clay grabbed them both for a grinning group hug!

“Uh, guys?” Raimundo called out from above, cupping his hands and calling on the Wind. “This is really cool and heartwarming and all, but HE STILL HAS MORE COWS THAN YOU GUYS!”

The trio looked between the two pens. Sure enough, the Bull Demon King’s still intact corral held about a dozen cows, while theirs still only had two or three floating above their pen, the Meteor Maul’s still on in reverse.

“Uhhh, yeah, we should probably fix that,” Clay admitted, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck. “C’mon, I’ve got an idea.”

Once they heard it, Jessie sped off, the Wings strapped to her back, the Star Fuusha around her neck, and cradling the Reversing Mirror in one arm while the other hand braced the Meteor Maul, until she found her target: one of the large, round bales of hay, at least five feet high. Normally they’d need a tractor to move it, but…

“Meteor Maul! Reversing Mirror!” As soon as the hammerhead struck the ground, she and the massive bale floated up. “Star Fuusha!”

The bright cyclone catapulted the bale towards the pen where the brothers waited, landing square in the center with a mighty thud.

Patrick gave her a thumbs up. “Bullseye, sis!”

Clay couldn’t decide whether to laugh or groan at that one, so he did both before gathering his chi with a warm smile.

“Wudai Crater, Earth!” And with a light tap of his foot, the earth tunneled into itself and dug a small ditch.

“Star Souzu!” Patrick was almost knocked back by the force of the current meeting the hard earth, but Clay quickly brought his hands up to brace his little brother’s shoulders.

Everything set up, Clay whistled a soft tune as he walked calmly over to the gate and opened it. The exhausted, frazzled cows all wandered towards the tasty hay and fresh water gladly, mooing softly as they filled their bellies. And just to be fair, he moseyed over to the Bull Demon King’s pen as well, opening it up and letting his trapped cows join the feast.

“And I think… that’s time!”

A few dozen cows mooed in agreement in the Baileys’ pen… and none in the Bull Demon King’s.



The clear, starry sky clapped with thunder as the cows and the pens all vanished, and everything was set right. Or… it should’ve been. Apparently whatever forces arranged the Showdowns decided to be a little petty this time. The great red brick mansion and the fake construction site were left toppled like a tornado blew through them, all the Bull Demon King’s thralls brought up top and looking around in a daze, as if waking from a strange dream.

The Bull Demon King shook himself awake too as he found himself kneeling in the red dirt. He looked up to find the Bailey siblings holding a hoard of thirteen Shen Gong Wu between them as their friends cheered mightily. And in the eldest’s hand… the garnet bolo tie. No…

Clay whistled with a smirk as he held up the flawless, dark red jewel to the moonlight. “Now this is a right pretty trinket right here!” He shook his head. “Shame about the crack, though.”

And summoning all this strength and Earth, Clay crushed the evil gem in his hand as easily as a snowball, the shards not even breaking his skin before he dropped them to the ground.

“NO!” The Bull Demon King cried.

Clay’s cool smirk didn’t leave. “And just for good measure… Star Hanabi, Earth!”

The star burned hot in his grasp as lava spewed onto the pieces of the broken amulet, swallowing and melting each one. The Bull Demon King could only stare in horror.

“Now… about the rest of that side bet…” Clay said, cracking his knuckles as his siblings glared darkly.