A/N: Little bit of backstory for this fic before you all dive into it.

A few years ago, my mother's female Saint Bernard, named Lexi, gave birth to a litter of three adorable little puppies. I shared pics on Tumblr with my tumblr fam, and then after they had grown up and went to good homes, I was requested to do a prompt about them. It stayed on Tumblr for the time being until recently I was asked if I would upload it here and on A03. Well, why the heck not? Even to this day I miss those fuzzballs.

Enough babble. Enjoy this sappy little one-shot.

Roll Over Beethoven

Takeda, Kung Jin, and Jacqui all knew too well that Cassie could never cope with more than 5 minutes of silence in the car without her music. Unfortunately, her phone had died and Jacqui, being the driver of the Cassie's red Jeep Wrangler, refused to give over the cord to charge her phone. As the Specialist put it,

'Driver gets all phone charging privileges regardless of who holds the higher rank.'

Cassie slumped in the back seat and for the sake of their friendship, allowing Jacqui to hold the cord hostage since she had begged her friend to drive them. Cassie was tired of driving, and frankly, so was everybody else of her driving. Between the Sergeant's road rage, hazardous manuevers and her tendency not to use the blinker, they had their fair share of near-death experiences for the day already.

Takeda, who was riding shotgun, smiled briefly when he remembered Jacqui shouting 'For the Love of God, Cassie— this isn't Nascar!' from the backseat when she decided to pick a race war with a 16-year-old teenage boy and his buddies in a Ford Pickup. She had won and left the boys in the dust on the freeway but at the cost of her friend's sanity. Takeda didn't have to be telepathic to see Kung Jin praying to the Gods for safe passage. Takeda could of read it all over his silent and petrified face as he held on to the hand-grip above his head, that the Shaolin often referred to as 'The Oh-Shit Bar.'

After a few hundred miles, still on their way to the cabin for their wilderness getaway, Cassie pulled off to the side and to the relief of everybody in the car, Cassie asked Jacqui to drive for a bit.

Takeda and Cassie switched seats after the filled up at the gas station, grabbed snacks and continued their way to their rented cabin on Grizzly Mountain.

Thank the Gods...

It took Takeda covering his mouth with his hand to hide his smile when he mentally heard Jin's more than fervent sigh of relief. Like a castaway who had been dog-paddling in the ocean for days and had woken up on dry land when all hope seemed lost.

After an hour, Cassie's phone died, and the three's torment persisted in another manifestation. In other words, she talked relentlessly about movies. Jacqui and Takeda fed into it for a while, but Cassie stole the conversation from them most of the time – forcing them to just listen.

The Shirai Ryu snuck a glance over his shoulder to see how the Shaolin was doing out of curiosity. Although he couldn't see his face, all of it covered by the book split open and resting on his face like a mask, Takeda could still sense the painful look of complete annoyance he had underneath. As if the most grievous torment the NetherRealm could conduct for him was listening to Cassie relentlessly talking.

Jacqui looked over at the phone charger, her eyes lingering on it with almost a desperate and defeated yearn. She sighed and looked back at Cassie; almost as if giving her the phone charger was their last option for peace and quiet. That was until…

"STOP THE CAR!"

Three things happened at once after Cassie screamed that. The first, thankfully, was Jacqui refraining from stopping the car in the middle of the single lane highway. However, she did nearly swerve into oncoming traffic when Jin woke in alarm, shot up in his seat and catapulted the book forward and hit Jacqui in the back of the head. The other was Takeda jumping about a mile high in his seat before spinning a finger in his ear; his eardrum feeling as if had erupted.

"Jesus Cassie—what?!" Jacqui questioned angrily, throwing a sharp look towards her. Kung Jin copied Jacqui's edgy look, glowering at the back of the blonde's head as she pressed her face against the backseat window like an enthusiastic kid at the zoo.

Takeda turned to his side to see the cause of Cassie's overjoyed outburst galloping across the green lawn in front of the white and blue two story farmhouse. With the three small dogs, were two women — a mother and a girl around 12— playing with them on the yard.

"Little Beethovens!" Cassie turned to look at Jacqui, raised a finger and ordered: "Turn this car around right now Jacqui so I can see the fluffy muffins!"

"What are you? Four?" Kung Jin ridiculed, rolling his eyes.

"Which is older than you mentally," Cassie returned, her tone blasé.

"As much as I want to see them, girl, we are already running late—"

"TURN THIS CAR AROUND OR I WILL MURDER TAKEDA!"

Takeda's eyes widened in awkward terror at the low, maniacal baritone Cassie growled out like a demon from Hell. It would have made Quan Chi shiver and for the briefest moment, he thought she was serious.

He saw Jacqui roll her eyes before she flipped on the blinker and pulled into the gravel driveway of another farmhouse. Turning the Jeep Wrangler around, she got into the opposite lane and headed back in the direction rudely and satanically requested by the Sergeant. Jacqui exchanged a dull look with her boyfriend, her eyes black with irritation.

"I'm going to kill her."

Takeda snickered lightly; the sound more comparable to a strained gust of breath coming out of his closed lip mouth. Takeda heard his friend banging his head against the window in the backseat as if he came to the conclusion a concussion was the remedy for the misery he was in.

"Jin might beat you to it—if he is still conscious by the time we get there," Takeda silently related to Jacqui. The ghost of a smile pulled on her face before vanishing just as fast.

When they approached the farmhouse, pulling up the driveway and putting it in park, the 12-year-old caucasian girl got up from her multi-colored quilt blanket and raced over to the car to greet them.

Cassie was the first to get out of the car, along with Jacqui, who walked alongside the driver's side. The ebony pigtails bounced up and down against her pink shirt as she greeted Cassie with a broad smile.

"Are you here for the puppies?" the girl asked, her voice pitched high with delighted hopefulness.

"You know it!" Cassie giggled, throwing her arms out, as if the obvious answer was written on her white shirt in giant pink neon letters.

The little girl squealed with excitement and took Cassie by the hand. The blonde let out a startled 'whoa' as she let the girl drag her to the galloping bundles of fluff that just noticed the new human arrivals.

Jacqui looked back at Takeda before she smiled, crossed her arms and walked slowly over to the group. Takeda could already see the brunette mother scolding her daughter softly, before apologizing to Cassie for her daughter's over joyous behavior. Cage waved it off with her hand, informing her 'it was alright' and asked if she could meet the three Saint Bernard puppies.

Takeda looked back to see the archer staring out the window in pure anguish.

"Come on, it won't be that bad, Jin," Takeda reassured with a small comforting smile. The Shaolin refrained from answering. Instead, the corner of his mouth pulled up to the side bitterly. With a click and shove, he threw the seat belt off and dragged himself out of the car as if he was attending a birthday party for someone he despised. Takeda knew why he was truly upset. He missed Jasper, his friend he had become acquainted with after the 'Great Kitten Debacle'. Cassie had dragged him to go instead of letting Jin spend some time with the kindred spirit he rather be with this Valentine's Day weekend. Even if Jin nor Jasper really celebrated the mushy holiday.

Kung Jin shoved his hands in his dark jeans pockets and sauntered over to Takeda with a slow, unhappy pace. The Shirai Ryu nudged him in the ribs, earning an irked look from him.

"You'll see Jasper, it's just for a couple of days," Takeda comforted.

"It's not that," Kung Jin lied, "I prefer cats."

"We know," Takeda acknowledged.

"Dogs are messy," Kung Jin continued, "They lick, scratch, destroy everything they get into —they have parasites too."

"So do cats, Jin," Takeda pointed out.

"Cats are independent. My kittens were well behaved," Kung Jin fired back. "You do know Cage Jr. is leaving here with a dog, right?"

"Nah, I think Cassie knows better," Takeda shrugged.

Both boys watched as Cassie flopped on the grass and all three of the brown and white puppies ambushed her. She laughed as she was assaulted by fuzzy paws, tiny licks to the face and the general cuteness of being smothered by the tiny beasts.

"Puppies! Puppies! Puppehs! I surrender! I don't know where the Rebel Base is!" she laughed, rolling on her back and playing with them. Jacqui pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily, completely embarrassed as the mother and the daughter looked at each other somewhat happy but still wary of the stranger playing with their dogs in such a childish manner.

Kung Jin turned to Takeda with a deep frown pulling down his face. "How much you wanna bet, genius?"

Takeda sighed. Maybe Jin had a point, but he knew that Cassie wasn't as bad as he was imagining. She just wanted to play with the dogs, get it out of her system and then they would be on their way.

They walked over and joined the Specialist as the mother approached them. The blue-eye brunette, perhaps in her early 30's, extended a hand out to them. "Hi, I'm Jane."

She greeted them politely and beamed a friendly smile as if they were next door neighbors, immediately casting a warm aura of trusting hospitality around them all.

They shook her hand one by one, each of them exchanging names, even Jin settled down and returned an amiable smile her way, even though his body language screamed of how keen to leave he was.

The little girl grabbed one of the puppies from behind and marched over to them. Takeda laughed slightly as he noticed the tiny pink tongue sticking out from the Saint Bernard's mouth as the puppy dangled from her grasp, it's massive paws pointed straight out like a Halloween mummy.

He could hear the animal grunting with each step, as well as the girl that struggled to hold up the dog's weight. Despite the dark mask around the puppy's eyes, Takeda could see the discomfort in them. Looking up at them as if pleading to save him from his small captor.

"I'm Heather and this is Remi!" The girl introduced eagerly, casting her eyes down at Remi before going back to them. Takeda was the first to take the puppy from her grasp. He was surprised despite how small the puppy was. Remi's tongue still stuck out of his mouth as he looked up at Takeda with fascination, the ninja holding the puppy like a human baby with his arm under his rear and against his chest.

"How old are they?" Jacqui asked, petting the top of the white and brown head with a smile.

"They are about 8 weeks old," Heather replied.

The black bandit mask of the puppy attentively stayed on Takeda, both of them looking at each other with curiosity before the puppy leaned forward, sniffed Takeda's chin and then licked him.

Takeda's face creased tightly, his eyes shutting close, as the small soft tongue and adorable yet rancid puppy breath caressed his chin. After a couple of licks, he suddenly felt sharp teeth clamp under his chin causing Takeda to open his eyes. Like a toddler teething, he nibbled on his chin. It didn't hurt but the sharp teeth dug uncomfortably into his skin.

"Hey... don't do that!" Takeda snickered, using his fingers to pull Remi's teeth away. The puppy instead decided his fingers were adequate and chewed on those. Despite the drool, Takeda allowed him to. It was pretty stinking cute as much as he hated to admit it.

Abandoning Cage, another of the puppies, this one just as identical as Remi besides the lack of the brown dot on the top of his head, bounded over to them. Tripping over its own legs, he let out a small yelp as he stumbled face first into the grass. As soon as he climbed back to his huge feet, he shook his head and then with a mouth gaped open, happily ran over to them as if nothing happened.

As the puppy began to attack Jin's shoelaces, pulling on the cord and swinging back and forth, Takeda could already tell that this pup was the bigger of the lot. A growl escaped from the puppy's mouth, his head shaking furiously as he retreated backwards with Jin's shoelace in his mouth; coaxing the Shaolin to play with him.

Much to Takeda and Jacqui's surprise, Kung Jin sat on the grass, leaned back on his arms and allowed the puppy to continue to untie his shoe— even laying his foot out straight out on the lawn.

"That's Colt. He was the first born," Heather told them. The girl walked over to the male puppy and wrapped her arms around his back and under his belly. "He's my very favorite puppy in the whole wide world!"

Colt ignored the tiny human on him and growled, wiping his head back and forth and causing the bow on Jin's shoe to finally unravel. Takeda looked at the archer and raised an eyebrow. The Shaolin responded with an eye roll, silently admitting he was wrong. Heather unhooked herself from the puppy, allowing Jin to reach over, grab Colt and place him on his back with his legs in the air.

The ex-theif rubbed the puppy's belly and immediately, they laughed when Colt's eyes glossed over with euphoria and one of his legs kicked out like a jack rabbit. Kung Jin persisted, scratching harder and causing the puppy to kick with even more aggression.

Apparently, Colt had enough because he whined and then wiggled out of Jin's grasp. Sitting on his lap, Colt stared him down, as if questioning if he could take the human. Colt's white paws lifted up, batting Jin on the chest a couple of times, before Kung Jin did the same, boxing his fists slightly back at Colt. Colt responded with more belligerent swipes, his mouth snapping close at Jin like a vicious alligator as a ferocious puppy bark escaped him.

Kung Jin and Colt boxed for a little bit, the Shaolin with an honest smile on his face. He was having fun.

Walking over to them, Cassie let out a fit of giggles as the puppy in her arms, the smallest of the bunch, licked the corner of her mouth and then moved to the nape of her neck. Her head tilted to the side as her eyes shut tight, the puppy licking her without mercy and finding Cassie's most ticklish spot. Cassie suppressed her laughter as best as she could, accomplishing it, except for the tears at the corners of her eyes and her face turning red.

"That's Daisy," Heather chimed. The little girl ran over to Daisy and gave the puppy a kiss on the back. Suddenly, the small girl let out a sniffle and rubbed her nose; a tear already running down her face. "I'm going to miss Daisy most of all! Please take good care of her!"

"I promise," Cassie responded.

"Wait what?" Jacqui blurted with horror. Takeda and Jin also froze. Did they hear that correctly?

"Are you going camping with the puppies as well?" Jane asked Cassie, interrupting the perplexed Specialist, as she looked over at the sleeping bags, tent and folding chairs strapped to the roof racks of the Jeep.

Cassie looked up, briefly looked at the Jeep with little interest, and then shook her head. "No. We're just taking the puppies."

Immediately, Jacqui, Jin, and Takeda's eyes landed on Cassie with extreme exasperation. Takeda looked at the puppy in his arms, searched the blonde's mind for her scheme and found it quickly. The telepath shook his head with displeasure. Damn it, Takeda, you've caught on to Cassie's plans quicker than that.

She had lied to them and Takeda should have seen it before. Cassie was the one that had suggested the camping trip, arguing that she had already paid a deposit for the weekend and that they needed to bond anyway. It had all been a ruse. She was here to adopt the puppies and she needed them to hold them on the car ride home.

"What do you mean, we are taking the puppies, Cage?" Kung Jin demanded sourly.

"It means exactly what I said it means, Jin," Cassie explained with a nonchalant tone. As if scolding Jin for asking such a stupid question.

"Cassie? What did you do?" Jacqui beseeched with an almost horrified tone.

She laughed, gave the puppy a kiss on the head. Cassie shrugged. "I bought Valentine's Day gifts—as well as a birthday gift— for you all. Your welcome by the way. I'm like Santa without the elf labor. They should pink slip him and give me the job."

"Ok, you lost me," Jacqui admitted, her eyebrows bridged together in confusion. "You bought puppies… for Valentine's Day gifts and a birthday gift… to give to who, exactly?"

Cassie smiled and looked back and forth between Jacqui, Kung Jin, and Takeda.

"We need to stop at the store and then you'll find out."

Jasper rolled his eyes, the strings on his violin coming to an unpleasant screech when he heard the doorbell ring. The orange tabby looked up from the couch and glanced out the window. His blue eyes squinted and before Jasper could ask what his problem was, TJ hissed and bolted for the bedroom. Most likely to hide under the bed and remain there until the evil stranger ringing the doorbell was gone.

"Yes, Jeffrey Dahmer has come to kill you, TJ. Run away and hide while he kills me, you good for nothing coward," Jasper muttered as he set the violin on his chair and walked over to the door. Looking through the peephole, a smile grew on his face when he saw a familiar face on the other side.

Although Jasper was happy to see him, he couldn't help but wonder why he was here. Jin had told him he was going camping with the others this weekend.

Jasper opened the door to the ranch style home he shared with his sister and nearly fainted at what he saw in Kung Jin's hands.

He stared at the adorable mass of white and brown poof in his hands and felt his jaw drop.

The black masked dog looked up at the other human and barked. Jasper knew the breed immediately; it was his favorite.

Going camping my ass.

"You got me a freaking Saint Bernard puppy for Valentine's Day?" Jasper stammered. Flabbergasted at the cuteness presented to him with a blue bow tied around his neck.

Kung Jin shrugged, "Cassie forced me. I told her you liked them, so here you go. Happy I Love You Day, here's a dog."

Jasper shook his head and laughed, "TJ is going to be pissed."

"He's always pissed—what else is new?" Jin countered.

Johnny Cage had to say this was the most unexpected Valentine's Day gift he had received, although he knew it was just a facade for Cassie to have a dog for herself. Still, he couldn't complain, especially with how cute the little bundle was. Still, he wished he got her more than just a card and gift card to Alvarado's Taco Hut.

With Daisy on her back, Johnny blew a raspberry into the puppy's stomach, earning tiny puppy kicks to the top of his head as Daisy fought to escape the evil clutches of the Ninja Mime star.

"Who's the cutest puppy in the world?" Johnny questioned, before blowing another raspberry. "Who's the most adorable puppy in the world?"

Another raspberry and the puppy barked and kicked.

"Is Daisy the cutest puppeh in the world?" Johnny continued, babbling as if he was talking to a human baby.

The little, over-sized legs of the Saint Bernard flailed in the air as Cage continued his relentless attack. Cassie was on her side, watching the whole thing and wiggling her finger between the soft pink pads of the puppy's feet.

A triumphant smile on her face.

"Ok Dad, close your eyes."

"Jacqui, you know I'm too old for this," Jax mumbled, sitting at the table with a half-eaten slice of birthday cake in front of them. Jacqui pointed a sharp finger it at her dad with a serious, commanding expression. Vera also threw him a look from the kitchen before returning to reorganizing the calamity.

"Do it,"she ordered.

With a reluctant sigh, Jax played along and did as his daughter instructed him to. She knew he wasn't fond of these silly games and wouldn't have cared if she slapped the gift unwrapped in his metal hands. If Jacqui was being this way, he knew it had to be something good.

He just had no idea what it could possibly be.

Until he heard the bark…

"Remi, no! You ruined the surprise you, little troublemaker."

Jax's eyes opened to see a miniature version of a Saint Bernard in Jacqui's arms, trying its best to escape her and run to Jax. His fist rested across his mouth, as Jacqui sat the puppy on the hardwood floor of the farmhouse; doing his best not to let his daughter see the jubilant smile he couldn't help but have. Walking experimentally across the floor, the puppy slipped on its large white Sasquatch like paws and fell to the side, earning a chuckle from Jax.

"I know Remi doesn't replace Lady, she was a great dog, but Cassie and I thought he would be a good companion to help you work on the tractor and terrorize chickens with," Jacqui told him, a melancholy and apologetic expression on her face.

Jax got up from the chair and gingerly, picked up the puppy from under his pits. He laughed and copied the puppy that had its tongue sticking out. Jax held the puppy to his chest before he wrapped Jacqui around the shoulders and pulled her into an embrace.

"He's great, Jacqui, thank you," Jax said before kissing the top of her head. Jax looked at the puppy who licked at the dark stubble on his chin. "And I'm sure he'll do more than terrorize chickens. With paws like those he'll be chasing after the horses when he gets to be as tall as them."

"I think chickens will do for now," Vera commented, walking over to pet Remi on the head.

THE END

A/N: TJ and Jasper make a cameo from Shaolin Mom. Hope you enjoyed, leave a comment, and thanks for reading. :)