All right, sorry folks for the wait. I'm trying to set these up weekly, though I think with the other tasks these next few weeks, I'll have to do this every other week instead. Still, hopefully you guys do like this series. Review if you can and let me know of anything that might need to be fixed. I try to keep myself up to date so I don't make too many errors in my own story, but since I've been trying to write these up I keep forgeting to throw this over to my Beta reader/Editor. But anyways, do let me know if you all like this series.

Again, Painted is my character, Kane is from Alith Anar.

6. 3rd Streed Original

By: DahkPanda

"That is one hell of a tattoo..."

Kane just sat back at one of the rotten benches of the Church, watching as several of the regular Saints were standing around one large guy, who had his shirt off. Across his belly, was a rather large tattoo. The top handlebar of the tattoo read "3rd Street", with a Fleur de lis underneath. Below the Fleur was the bottom handlebar that read "Saints" upon it.

Kane recognized the guy that was showing off the new tattoo, he was one of the first guys that joined up after him, once they got the entire Row to the Saints. One of Johnny's enforcers, if he recalled. It wasn't exactly an impressive tattoo, just a quick bit of lettering with the main attraction being the Fleur de lis...But honestly? It was still an impressive sight to behold. Kind of a way to mark yourself as a Saint for life.

Johnny Gat himself walked up to the crew and waved them off. "Not too bad, but how about..." He lifted his shirt up to reveal his own tattoo, similar to the guy-that-Kane-couldn't-remember-the-name-of. Only one thing stood out differently from the other guys.

Bottom Handlebar still had "Saints" written in

But just below the handlebar, was the word written in small texts "Original".

Such a little addition to the tattoo did leave a little awe in the room, and many of the new guys all managed to curse in positive ways to say just how awesome the tattoo was. Kane couldn't help but feel a little proud that he was somewhat brotherly towards the loud mouth boy named Johnny Gat.

A hand was placed upon his shoulders. Normally, he would have turned to punch whoever touched him, but it was a delicate touch. Rough hands that helped put a car together but still quite soft...he remembered

it well.

Kane looked up at Lin, who was smirking down at him in response. "Admiring the boys are we?"

His response was to 'pfft' before he pulled his hand back, and with just a gentle push, ushered Lin to stand in front of him instead of behind the bench. Her response was to sit right next to him, offering him the chance to wrap the arm that pulled her, around her shoulders. "Eh, tats aren't really my thing..." He states, ignoring the irritated looks of the many boys who wanted to get into Lin's pants gave.

Lin smirked. "Body is a temple, eh?" judging by the very strange look on Kane's face, she laughed. "You'd be surprised how many of us actually have high school degrees. Just so happens I was better at working on engines than regular schoolwork."

It was Kane's turn to smirk at that. "Well, you turned out all right..." He muttered, perhaps a little shyly towards Lin. Though honestly, he noticed that Lin loved that about him. The two got together only a week after Jackie gave him the 'hints' that would get Lin's affections...and it worked. The fact that Lin often didn't really interact with the others too often made him forget that...by all standards, Lin was family to Johnny and Jackie. Stories of them being inseparable in their youth was heard all around the church, with the distancing was that Lin had moved to another part of town, and Jackie had gone to the Military. Johnny was the only one who didn't get too far.

Johnny going to the military didn't go over nearly as well. Something about his psychosis or something like that. Though honestly Johnny looked like a wet noodle. Thin as hell and really only had his mouth. Kane started to wonder just how much of his bullshit he actually did…not counting all the stuff with the guns, Kane believed that within a second. But to bench press almost 200 pounds…Johnny was barely one-hundred twenty five pounds.

Still, nobody ever bothered to make fun of Johnny...nobody.

"Put your shirt on, you flat-chested girl!" a familiar, feminine voice called out. Kane and Lin held back laughter as Johnny turned red, as that comment was obviously towards him. Jackie appeared from the aisle of the church while the rest of the room was dead silent.

Every Saint soldier expected a fight then. Johnny jumping at the larger girl and attempting to rip her throat out for saying such words. To their surprise, though, was the fact that all they got was Johnny flipping her off once his shirt was back on. "Shut up..."

Jackie grinned and looped an arm around Johnny's neck, pulling him next to the side of her breast. "Awww…you feel like crying, my sweet, baby boy? Want to rest your head on momma's tits?"

Johnny's reaction was to push Jackie away, earning a laugh from Jackie, then from Lin. "Fuck you, bitch..." he stated, pointing at her. Jackie's response was to just cross her arms. "Your momma had to feed you horse-feed with steroids to get you that big..."

A round of 'ohhhs' could be heard from the Saints, and the tension soon ceased as Jackie and Johnny started to play the 'yo' momma' jokes. Even from Kane's place, the anger in Johnny subsided.

Kane had to chuckle himself at some of those. It was rather true though that Jackie was more of a mountain compared to Johnny...and hell, Jackie was a mountain compared to most of the Saints. Jackie was far from the thin side, most of her body was pretty muscular, a sight that she often showed off with muscle shirts and tank tops. Her muscles weren't flat or ugly, but just the right amount of fat to it that it made her pleasing to the eyes of much of the saints. Black hair that was always pulled back into a ponytail, her green eyes always had some stray strands in front of it. Jeans that always showed off her ass and the muscle shirt/tank-tops always showed off her assets. Pushing Johnny to her breasts made them shift, enough to where any Saint in the room wished to be in Johnny's place. To Jackie, she thought she should be born a man. To many others? She was actually a perfect muscled woman…just...too intimidating to ask out.

People were actually surprised when Kane was a few inches taller than her, and was pretty burly himself…though honestly that was old school military training. To find Jackie was a Marine back in her day wasn't surprising in the least. And the injury was equally unsurprising. She often didn't run. If she did it was a mild sprint and not the speed that people could see her as. When she was violent, she favorted that leg, and never used in it a fight.

Still, Injury non-withstanding, Jackie was a tank.

He wasn't quite sure what was said, due to the reminiscing, he just looked over just in time to see Jackie pull her shirt up, and...again, unsurprising to him but surprising to the rest of the room, she had the same tattoo that Johnny had. Granted, many of the saints were oogling the underside of her obviously braless breasts, but Kane's eyes were on the tat.

Besides, he saw them before, as nice as they were, Lin's was better.

Johnny finally just laughed at the end, and waved her off. "Yeah yeah...fuck off, bitch..." He managed, and soon found his way out of the room. Jackie laughed lightly as she stalked her way over to Lin and Kane and shrugged. "So how are the two lovebirds we have here?" she asked and tilted her head lightly to the duo.

Kane just smirked wearily as Lin rolled her eyes. "Lovebirds, eh?" She states, though her smile grew a bit. "Tell you what, tell me what you did to that one bouncer at the bar and I'll tell you what we did two nights ago…in full color..."

Kane turned to Lin with the look on his face that read 'don't you dare...'

Lin kissed his lips, a cheeky grin on her face.

Still, Kane calmed a little when Jackie waved them off. "Eh, fuck it, you don't wanna know about that..." she stated.

As a fit of giggled filled between the two, Kane finally looked to Jackie. "So when did you get the tattoo?"

Jackie smirked a bit and sat next to Lin. "Eh, most of the first guys who joined the saints got it right away. Johnny invented it himself so all could know who we belonged to..." She shrugged lightly. "hell, the only original who didn't get it was Lin here, but I think you noticed that..." Jackie wriggled her brow.

Kane just bit his lip as Lin chuckled.

Jackie chuckled herself and sat back. "You should get that tat, and I mean ours and not theirs..."

Kane raised a brow. "The hell are you talking about? I didn't join until later..."

Jackie shrugged again. "But you are one of us, and you might as well been an original. Without you we were just a small gang with a small territory. Now? You got us to be a pretty big group. We owe you that much. You joined us when we were small and most of the other guys are gone already, everyone here was after you…again, you deserve the original..."

Kane just smiled a little. "I'll think about it..."

The Saints Penthouse, or their new Headquarters in Steelport, was booming with life. The front of the building had a purple carpet in the front, the carpet being blocked off by purple velvet dividers, with golden stands. Two of the biggest Saints stood at the front, arms crossed and making sure nobody ever dared to cross the velvet lines. Reporters and fans galore were standing behind the dividers, all yelling and screaming while some major actors and patrons were stepping down the carpet. The Boss Kane and his posse already arrived, with both Kane and Pierce making poses after poses while the girls had already ran in That was all of ten minutes ago and it seemed that the screaming had died some, though there was the occasional happy response when an actor stepped into view.

Lights flourished, also having a violet tint to it, to add to the mix. To mark that this was a Saints event, anybody who was a dire fan or really wished to join a party just below the penthouse had to wear violet to get in. If you didn't, the two big men threw you out into the street. It was the main rule...besides not carrying any weapons, etc.

Red was not violet.

So when the Red and Black Justice pulled up, both bouncers were already agitated. The car door opened, and out stepped a tall man dressed in a black suit, red vest, red tie, and even a red scarf. He took a moment to pull the cigarette from his lips before blowing a huge amount of smoke from his mouth. He looked up at the penthouse before smirking a little. When he looked to both bounders, he gave a light wink to both of them, then moved around the car to stand on the carpet. Before moving forward though, he moved his hand to the backdoor of the Justice and opened it.

Both Bouncers hesitated when they saw a pair of toned, sexy legs, complete with black high heels. The man in red and black held out his hand and helped out the girl wearing a grey outfit. To the amazement of the bouncers, another woman was also helped out, looking exactly like the first.

Marko couldn't help but grin at the two idiots at the elevator door. It's like they never heard of sexy twins before. As the two girls came to stand at either side of him, he turned to face the bouncers and made his way into the building, heading directly to the elevator, and the bouncers. Many of the cheerers were a little more silenced, more confused than anything. Nobody really knew who he was in this town…not at all surprising to him. Everyone knew him in Liberty City, not in Steelport. Hell, the murmurs he could hear told him only a few knew of him. Who cared? Hopefully this is the introduction he needed.

The Bouncer on the right held out his hand and shook his head. "Nobody from the Syndicate can enter, this is a private affair."

Marko merely smirked as he puffed out more smoke from his cigarette. Slowly, he held his cigarette over to Kiki, who instantly pulled it from his hand.

As Marko stepped up towards the first Bouncer, the girls were right behind him. He reached behind him, having to pull up his jacket to get access to what was on his belt in the back. Before the Bouncer could even make a move, Marko suddenly struck.

In one fel movement, he spun the first knife out from behind him and slammed it into the Bouncer's chest. The Bouncer was down before he even let in a breath. Just as the second started to react, Marko pulled out his second weapon…a beautiful, golden Shepard .44. He fired at the bouncer, twice in the heart, and instantly he was down. Neither had the opportunity to even react. To the people outside? None saw it.

The Elevator door opened and the three entered it gracefully. Marko placing his gun back into its holster in the back of his belt, then turned. He held out his hand to Kiki, who handed him the cigarette.

He puffs out smoke from his lips once more, and he grins as the door shuts.

"What...the...Fuck..."

Shaundi heard Painted mutter this aloud, and honestly? She had her sympathies to the oddities that Painted was seeing now.

It had been years since she joined the Third Street Saints, and for the longest time she continued to let the oddities of this rather awkward group pass over her harmlessly. So much that some of the weirdest things in the world that the Saints did would seem normal on any given day.

To Shaundi? This was moderate type of weird that she had to deal with.

So there she was, sitting on one of the large couches that was towards the loft above. Painted sat next to her, hunched down with the floppy hat covering most of her face and a scarf over her nose and lips, covering pretty much the entirety of her face. This was predictable, as Painted had the case of being heavily camera shy. Behind the couch? Was a mob from the Press, each with cameras that were focusing over both of their heads. All one person had to do was to look down and they would have gotten a picture of both of them, almost nuzzled together like they were frightened children, unable to comprehend the madness.

At the very top of the loft at dead center was Kane, standing like some sort of fucking hero with his hands on his hips and grinning widely towards the cameras. On both sides of him were a great number of Saints, all clad in purple robes. They were aligned all the way around Kane and stood, aligning the stairs as well, each making a quiet hum while the reporters watched. Behind Kane? A large gospel all adding to the hum.

Shaundi finally moved a hand over to slowly pet Painted's slim shoulder. "There there, this is…Normal..." she states softly, though really couldn't believe it herself. When did this shit become normal to them?

She knew that Kane was a showoff, but seriously? Gospels? Robed men? The Saints kind of looked like a cult now.

The flashing of cameras made Painted wince, and once more Shaundi had to pet the other girl's shoulder. She felt bad for her old friend, the psychotic girl that blew up half of Stilwater could not stomach being here in front of the cameras. Shaundi felt like that before they became more successful...now she lived in the spotlight these days.

Speaking of headlights…fuck... Shaundi thought, glaring up at the guys near the roofs. She swore one guy was having a panic attack up there with how he's shaking the spotlight violently. Except another guy is doing it to, making this constant flash around the room that just doesn't seem normal.

Soon, the gospel started up, started to sing, quietly. At that moment, Shaundi saw a person step in from the left. Cameras and the main spotlight looked down to the left to reveal Pierce, in his pristine white suit. He stood upright at attention. Another person appeared to their right...Paul.

Shaundi groaned lightly, last time she had to deal with Paul personally, she could feel Paul's eyes trying to peel away the clothes right off her body. His gaze makes her skin crawl…something she had to glance to Painted, who stiffened at his presence. In the man's little, tiny hands, was a rather long package. Too large to be a pistol, but to thin to be a rifle...

...

Shaundi placed her hand slightly onto her face and sighed. "It"

Granted, she remembered what all Kane had to do to get it, and to get it right. It took years to rebuild the 'thing' that this was, something Kane used regularly during their days in Stilwater. By all accounts, there is a reason for a celebration, as Kane spent so much time and effort to get it the exact way he wanted it.

And now it's here, and Shaundi's headache grew ten fold.

This party wasn't needed, all Kane had to do was to show it off…but NOOoooOOo…

The Gospels in the back were getting louder as Pierce and Paul made their way up the flight of stairs they were closes two, mirroring each other in their steps to make this show as epic as possible.

And the reporters were drooling. She knows because Painted's hat had gotten a bit of slobber, and the masked girl was cussing up a storm now.

The gospels were at their loudest now as the two made it up the flight of stairs (to Paul's credit, he floated up), and the two slowly approached the main spotlight, where the 'heroic Kane' stood. Once they reached to basically Kane's podium, they both fell to a kneeling position. The robed Saints all soon bowed as well, and Shaundi had to snicker at the thought of the guys kneeling on the stairs. Paul, held up the long box over his head, the front of the box had been opened, and was higher than the back of the box, all so Kane could reach for 'it'.

Shaundi saw the handle already. So did Painted, as she tilted her head.

Kane grinned and soon bent a little to grasp the handle, and pulled 'it' out.

Saintmaker

It was a specialized Katana, the original katana that Kane had nicked once from the Ronin and had kept it ever since. He had to give it up to customize it, have it tempered and constructed so that the metal was now purple without being a paint job, the handle had a violet wrap to it and the guard at the top of the handle was shaped like a fleur-de-lis. Despite the stupidity of the show, it was actually a beautiful sword for what it was.

Kane grinned and marveled at the sight of it, he slowly held the sword up, over his head, high into the air, and the gospel suddenly grew loud again. Pierce stood and did the Saint salute. Paul stood and saluted. The robed Saints stood as well, all with their arms high in the air. Shaundi heard the gospels words now, singing "Hallelujah" as slow as they could, in all of their glory. Behind Kane was an explosion of life, with purple sparklies and even a little bit of fireworks, sparkling through the skylight above.

And just as the gospel went silent, just as the sparklies started to fade, just as Kane started to breath as if he was about to hyperventilate from sheer happiness.

A voice was heard.

"BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULLLL!"

Everyone in the room suddenly shot a look at the couch, and Shaundi had to look in disbelief from Painted, who was obviously grinning behind her mask.

Kane was the first to respond, his breathing was abrupt, and he stared directly at the painted one with a look of shock, awe, and frightened disbelief. Soon, he nearly threw his sword down in a tantrum…almost. Like he was ever going to damage that sword of his.

"MY MOMENT!" he cried out and glared at Painted. "MY MOMENT, AND YOU RUINED IT?"

Painted just chuckled and stood up lightly. "Eh, Fuck your moment. Get the Cameramen outta here and let's get back."

Kane growled and before Shaundi could blink, Kane was already down the stairs, heading towards Painted now. "This is an event, Painted, and you're not a part of it. You're only here for the job, and this was meant to help support us in our endeavors!"

Painted growled and pushed Kane back. "Fuck you, we have everything we needed for the Syndicate. All you added was a nice, purple dildo in the shape of a blade."

The reporters snorted at that, and Kane growled. "You don't understand how I need to run things..."

"Run things!?" Painted Face retorted loudly, glaring directly at him and poking him in the chest. "You think this is running things, you fucking little shit!? Did you have to do this to take over Stilwater? You had to do this to take out bosses of any of those gangs!?" She poked him in the chest again. "Tell me again why you fucking needed any of this shit!"

"The fuck does this bitch thinks she's talking to?" a voice could be heard from behind Kane. It was a new foot soldier of the Saints. Too new to know anything about anything. His hood was off, revealing his rather new face.

It seemed that Painted figured that part out, since she looked at Kane in the eyes. "New guy, eh?" she stated flatly as she made her way over to the 'new Saint'. Painted looked at him dead in the eye, the only thing of her face still in view due to her hat and bandana. "Look me in the eyes boyo and answer me this. You joined the Saints because of the drums, drugs and hospital drips? Or did you join in for respect?"

The fledgling didn't answer her. Instead his eyes drifted to the side, away from her.

Painted punched the wall right behind him, which he flinched. "LOOK…AT…ME!" she commanded, forcing his eyes to look directly at her. She stared at him for a few long moments before she backed away. "I betcha you didn't even get canonized..."

"What's Canon..."

Before he could finished, Painted flew her fist into the man's jaw so hard that he fell to the side. She herself had to spin a little before she could stop herself. "That's right...you all are fucking new to this shit, ain't ya?" Silence. "What? You fuckers got your balls in your fucking hands? You wanna be just like Pierce, Shaundi and Kane, eh? Well, fuck them..." She stated, and reached for the bottom of her shirt.

Kane frowned. "Painted...Don't..."

Painted lifted her shirt. By all means, many a folks ignored the fact that the underside of her breasts were in view. Many ignored the fact that there were scars, burns, and the fact that she was thin, but covered with muscles...

On her stomach, faded due to time and body damage, was the tattoo:

Third Street Saints Original

The room was silent, some seemed confused while anybody who knew enough about the Saints remembered that Johnny had the exact same tattoo, and that anybody who truly wore that tat, was an original. The faded part of the tattoo was clue enough that it wasn't a fabrication, she had to have been there alongside Johnny to get it.

Painted pulled down her shirt before gathering a pistol, firing at the skylight above the crowd of reporters. They soon fled outside and even Shaundi had to step out of the way. With them gone, Painted pulled the mask off her face. "I am a fucking original...I fought and bled for this gang before half of you were outta diapers. I watched friends die again and again and every time I see a fucking Saints Flow picture, I wanna fucking puke. This is the legacy of the Saints...Fuck all of you for thinking that..."

Kane growled, and clenched his fist. "It's not that simple..."

Painted turned around to him. "Not that fucking simple!?" she stated and made her way over to Kane again. "If it weren't for all of this shit, the celebrity bullshit you've pulled out, for all the crap that would have gotten the attention of a certain group in red, Johnny would still be fucking alive..." She states quietly.

"Yes, I blame you, Kane, for the death of Johnny...You took your dick and gave it to fucking Ultor and after all this time, you view me as the little shit for walking away. The moment you let Dex go is the moment I wanted to fucking kill you. And suddenly I don't feel so bad for doing what I did against the Brotherhoo..."

Kane had his gun out and held it to Painted's temple. "Continue that statement and I will turn your head into a canoe..."'

Painted placed her gun to his temple. "Just try. I'm pretty good at chicken..."

Everyone seemed unable to really say, or do anything. Any reporters outside were watching the standoff from afar and Pierce and Shaundi both just seemed awestruck, unable to move from their spots. Paul had his phone out, as if to call an ambulance…or Ultor to make kane a new head...who knew when it came to Paul.

Luckily, for everyone, somebody broke the tension in the room...but it wasn't a Saint.

"Well, fuck. Guess I really did come at the wrong time..."

All eyes, even Kane and Painted's, all turned towards the voice. To the annoyance of the Boss and the Lieutenants, they both bitterly found Kiki and Viola once more standing rather proud as they had their arms crossed over their...well-endowed breasts.

But the guy in the middle wasn't Phillipe, though he looked like a younger version of him of sorts. The man held out his hands and grinned through his cigarette. "You guys gonna shoot each other and make my life easier or do you want to know who I am?"

Kane pulled his gun away, with Painted reluctantly pulling hers. "...No…who the fuck are you, and why the hell are the Morning Star here?"

The man just grinned lightly, then winked to Painted. "Took me some time to remember you, but I did help you out back in Liberty City." He states, then looked over to Kane. "I am Marko Loren, the son of a bitch who was called in to face off against you wild fuckers..."

Kane looked to Painted, who seemed a little surprised she was called out, then turned back to Marko. "Great. So another Loren to kill, eh?" he held up his pistol to Marko.

Marko laughed, and shook his head. "You're not gonna kill me here..." he states and waved them off, turning around and slowly strolled up the stairs. "You're not gonna kill me because it wouldn't be loud enough, insane enough. Shooting me here just isn't your style..." He states, and when he hit the top he headed directly around the corner towards the bar. Kane and several Saints were already in hot pursuit...though Shaundi noticed that Painted didn't. In fact, the psycho was heading for the elevator...

Marko smirked a little as Kane followed almost obediently. He pulled out a bottle he remembered was suppose to be here back when the Morning Star owned it. It had been awhile, and this was the penthouse that his father often used for dealings. Opening the bottle, he sniffed it and sighed. Perfect. He poured himself a glass.

"So what the fuck are you doing here if you know I'm not going to kill you..." Kane stated, slowly crossing his arms…and bringing up the violet sword he had in his other hand the entire time.

Marko merely looked to Kane and grinned. "Oh, I'm threatening you..."

Kane frowned softly. "you should have brought an army for that..."'

Marko chuckled. "Yeah...Understand what you're dealing with, Saint..." he states and took a gulp of the glass. "I am from Liberty City...stuck there because poor ol' daddy thinks I'm too vicious at times for me to be around twenty four seven...but understand the Syndicate is in Liberty City..."

Kane just tilted his head as he placed his stolen shades over his eyes. "So?"

"We are also in San Andreas, San Paro..fuck, we're even in Tokyo, could you believe that?" Marko stated, pouring himself yet another glass. Kiki and Viola both smirked as they stayed by his side. "We even have some from Europe, and even Russia…the point is we're everywhere, okay?" he states, getting to the point. "To kill the Syndicate is to kill half the world to do so. You kill Phillipe, I will replace him...You kill him and me, somebody worse is going to replace us...To bite the head off the Syndicate, a head will just grow back."

Marko rounded the corner of the bar and moved towards Kane. "Let's face it. I don't really agree with my father trying to move you fuckers into the fold, because...well..." he grins. "Let's just say I'm a big fan of your guys work…but even I know trying to fight us is a dead end…You kill Loren, we kill you back...simple?"

Kane glared. "You guys deserve all that we're going to do to you..."

Marko shook his head. "You don't understand...The reason why I'm here is to take you guys out...Understand that Stilwater is under your control, but Steelport is ours. I'm going to be a nice guy because I just so happen to like you guys. You have three days to get the fuck out of Steelport...Go back to Stilwater and stay where you belong...if you don't, I will send people after you…if you kill my old man...well…retaliation is a bitch..."

Marko smirked at the uncomfortable shift in his stance. "Take it what you like, Boss of the Saints...Understand your place in the world, and understand that I am a man of my word…" he downs the drink fully, then smirks as he passes by Kane, heading towards the stairs.

Before Marko made the first step down, he paused and turned to Kane. "….By the way...Nice sword you have there..." he winked, then stalked his way down.