Requested by KLD kitkat
This is my own little version of how the team met; completely different from the comics (I think...didn't read it)
Ps: I wrote Kung Jin as part of the White Lotus, but I don't know if he really is or not...
Also, I have this headcanon that Jin and Takeda knew each other before they got put in a team together.
As the daughter of 'the great Johnny Cage', people expected her to make friends easily and not get uncomfortable.
While in truth; she hated meeting new people.
She was Cassandra Cage; the child of two of the most powerful Earthrealm warriors, not to mention that her father was an actor. People expected a lot from her, whenever she walked through a crowd of people they would always look at her like they were waiting for her to do a backflip or something.
It was annoying, really, but she learned to live with it.
The blonde girl took a deep breath and put her sunglasses on. C'mon Cassie, at least Jacqui's there with you; you won't be completely alone. She told herself.
She walked into the training room, seeing her father, Jacqui and two boys she didn't know. One was wearing a Shirai Ryu headband and was wearing a suit that almost looked like it was made out of metal; the other had a ponytail and a bow and quiver strapped to his back.
"You're late," her father called, raising an eyebrow.
She shot him an apologetic smile and took place beside Jacqui. "Sorry dad," she didn't miss the surprised look on the boys' faces.
Johnny sighed. "Just don't do this when your mother's around."
"No one in their sane mind would go against General Blade," she responded, naming her mother on purpose just to see the new kids' reactions.
She was pleased to say they nearly choked on their spit.
Jacqui nudged her and shot her a look that said 'Really?'
Cassie shrugged.
"This is the first time in...a while that the Shirai Ryu, White Lotus and Special Forces worked together," Johnny started, his eyes scanning all the people in the room. "And we hope that we can keep this team together."
"In other words, don't fuck up," Cassie muttered, causing Jacqui to poke her side sharply in an effort to shut her up.
Johnny rolled his eyes but didn't comment on it, he opened his mouth to say something when his phone rang. He checked the caller ID and sighed, glancing at his daughter before muttering "I should probably take this, don't kill each other while I'm gone."
Cassie knew what that look meant; her mother was calling.
"So...how'd your dad take it?" She asked.
Jacqui winced and nervously tampered with the gauntlets attached to her arms. "What do you think? He freaked. He even went as far as asking Sonya to not let me join the Special Forces!"
"Oh, I heard that," Cassie chuckled. "Did he really think that'd work?"
"No, probably not," the black haired girl shrugged.
"Sounds like your dad is pretty protective," the boy with the ponytail commented. "I'm Kung Jin."
Jacqui snorted. "You have no idea, I'm Jacqui."
"Name's Cassie," the girl introduced herself; which only left the boy in the Shirai Ryu headband. He had been silent so far, and from the looks of it, he'd continue to be so.
Kung Jin looked around; clearly thinking of a way to start the conversation. "So...you're General Blade's daughter?"
Cassie tensed for a moment, knowing that her relationship with her mother wasn't the best. "Yes."
"Were you like, born into the Special Forces or-"
"Both of us chose our own path," Jacqui swiftly cut in and expertly changed the topic; she already saw were this was heading. "And as you heard before; my dad wasn't really happy with it."
Kung Jin shrugged. "That sucks, I didn't have that problem."
"Neither did I," the boy spoke up.
Cassie took off her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow. "And you are...?"
"Takeda," he answered quickly, fidgeting in his seat and almost looking nervous.
The Cage daughter was sure she had been spending too much time reading teen magazines with Jacqui; she started to think Takeda actually looked...cute when he was so nervous.
She nodded and put the sunglasses back on, continuing to chew her gum like nothing happened.
Jacqui's eyes fell on the logo on Takeda's headband. "You're from the Shirai Ryu?" She asked.
He nodded, his voice suddenly taking on a more softer tone when he talked. "Been there the majority of my life."
Jacqui frowned and tilted her head. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"It isn't!" Takeda was quick to correct his mistake. "I mean, my mentor was great and taught me a lot of things and-"
The other boy frowned. "Seriously? Scorpion scared the hell out of me when I first met him!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Cassie held her hands up and focused on Takeda. "You're telling me that Scorpion was your mentor?!"
Takeda glared at his friend. "Damn it, Jin," he muttered before sheepishly looking at the two girls staring at him in surprise. "He prefers Hanzo, and yes...he kinda raised me, to some point."
Cassie and Jacqui glanced at each other; both of them sensing a darker past that they really shouldn't stick their noses in at the moment. They just met the boy, and if he wanted to tell them or not was his decision.
"How about you show us then?"
Takeda jumped and looked at Cassie. "Wait, what?"
"Show us what you can do," she took of her sunglasses and rolled her eyes. "If Scorpion was your mentor, you should know how to fight."
"I...it's better if I fight against someone, and we can't really do that so-"
"Fight me," Cassie shrugged. "I started fighting at a young age, I can take a couple of hits."
He paled. "I'm not fighting you!"
Jacqui whistled. "Oh, you've done it now."
Jin shot her a questioning look and she smirked. 'Just watch,' she mouthed.
Cassie raised an eyebrow and got up, walking until she was standing in front of the boy. She leaned down until she was eye-level with him and shot him a wicked smile. "What? Because I'm a girl? Let me tell you something, Takeda, I'm not some silly Hollywood girl that screams at the sight of a small spider. Like I said, I can take a couple of hits. So fight me."
She stayed in the same position and kept her eyes on him; waiting for him to react.
He bit the inside of his cheek before looking up at her. "We can't fight here."
She smirked and pulled away from him. "We can fight in the arena, my dad probably won't mind."
His jaw clenched, finally seeing that she really wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."
"Think I can't handle it?" She raised an eyebrow. "Follow me, everyone."
Jin walked next to Jacqui as they followed the blonde girl. "Is she always so demanding?" He whispered.
Jacqui scoffed. "She actually went easy on him."
Takeda and Cassie stood across from each other in the arena, the remaining members of their new team standing somewhere in the corner and watching them.
"Are you sure you want to-" he got cut off as she pulled out her gun and shot at him- rubber bullets, non-lethal, of course.
"Okay, you're sure."
The girl was surprised to see the boy disappear; small flames appearing where he had been before they disappeared. She cartwheeled away as he appeared behind her.
"Yep, definitely trained by Scorpion," she muttered before rushing forward; her leg stretched out to kick him and a faint green glow surrounding her.
He dodged, and this kept going; him trying to take her down and dodging almost every attack she threw at him.
Cassie managed to pin him to the ground though.
She was straddling him and held his arms a little too tightly pressed against the ground as she glared at him.
Jin blinked, surprise written all over his face. "How did she-"
"You're holding back," the blonde girl accused. "Fight like you mean it, damn it!"
Jacqui grinned and nudged Jin. "That's how."
Takeda rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm holding back."
Cassie didn't know how, he probably caught her off guard, because the next moment he had switched their positions and she was the one pinned on the ground.
"If I fought like I meant it, you'd be either dead or seriously injured."
She rolled her eyes and pushed him, he got the hint and got off her; offering his hand for her to take. She glared at him and got up without his help before crossing her arms. "You're underestimating me. It takes a lot more to kill me."
"You'd still need a trip to the hospital."
"The least you could've done was use weapons! I did!"
He sighed. "You used rubber bullets."
"Yeah, so I wouldn't accidentally kill you. I don't think my dad would appreciate that, you know?"
"There's no way I can use my weapons without it being lethal," he explained and pulled out his whip. "See this? It's designed for killing."
Cassie stepped closer to look at it, it was completely made out of metal and the whole thing was covered in sharp-looking blades. That thing could even slice you by accident; someone wouldn't even have to hit you with it.
Jacqui whistled lowly and Cassie glanced at her best friend; both girls thinking the same thing. What the hell?
"Okay, good point," she admitted, taking a step back when she noticed how close they were standing. "But you still could've fought me like I wasn't some fucking fragile doll!"
He sighed. "Okay fine. If I promise I'll fight you seriously next time, will you stop being mad at me?"
She paused and thought about it for a moment, her eyes snapped to Jacqui and she grinned. "Deal, but not now, I want to see Jacqui fight Jin."
"Girl, it's like you know what I'm thinking!" Jacqui called.
Jin frowned. "Wait, what?"
Jacqui turned to face him and smirked as she crossed her arms. "Scared?"
"You wish," he scoffed and grabbed his bow and quiver. "Let me just change the arrows real quick so you don't get stabbed when I beat you."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't get ahead of yourself, but good idea; I need to change my bullets too."
That's how the newly-formed team spend their day; fighting each other and seeing who could beat who. So far Cassie beat Jacqui and Jin, lost to Takeda once but beat him when they had to go again. Jacqui won from Jin once and lost once and then beat Takeda. And Jin lost to Cassie but beat Takeda.
The girls were surprised to find out about Takeda's telepathic abilities, but they used it to act without thinking.
They were having so much fun that nobody even noticed that Johnny and Sonya were watching them from the beginning.