Fate Girls: Aura

Chapter One People screamed. Actually, little people screamed. The school-bus hurtled down the street, the kids inside it either screamed in delight as if they had suddenly found themselves in a rollercoaster or actually yelled in terror at the pursuit. A fierce woman in leather jacket drove her bike next to the school-bus driver and pulled out a shotgun at him. He was startled to see her and swerved to the side, taking a whole traffic light with him. Another woman, much smaller and younger than the first, drove between the shotgun and the school-bus and slapped the gun down, yelling, “Are you nuts? There are kids in there!” “I wasn’t going to fire,” said the fierce woman and gritted her teeth. “Accidents happen you know.” The small woman clicked their intercom back to broad channel and ordered, “Everybody, no guns for any reason whatsoever. I’m going in, keep up the pursuit until I handle this. Bremusa is in charge.” Bremusa, which means the raging female, straightened her back at that and watched the group’s locations on her smarthelmet. She sent out commands, bellowed orders and told each and every one of the ladies to move their fat asses. Other bikers closed in from every lane, all women, all dressed in leather and combat gear. They were behind and in front of the school-bus in tight escort and cleared the highway ahead. The two leading bikes honked at various intervals, but they didn’t have to do it that much despite the terrible traffic. People knew that when they saw them they better veer away. The school-bus driver spat a curse at her and swerved left to bump her bike. She was too preoccupied with giving commands that she didn’t react in time, and was about be pushed to the side at 100 km/h. If she was lucky that is. It was also probable she’d get caught under the school-bus’ wheels and get chomped instantly by the sheer weight. “Antioche!” Bremusa bellowed and leaned towards her. The school-bus pushed the smaller woman’s bike to the side, she managed to correct her course, but she was too late. Bremusa grabbed her as she fell and held her close, leaning her bike the other way for counterbalance. Antioche stood at an angle on the bike, holding onto Bremusa’s hand. They were like a circus performance, doing stunts on bikes at high speeds. Her bike fishtailed behind and slammed hard on a wall with a loud rending of metal. There was no explosion. “Get me closer!” Antioche said and Bremusa sighed. She did as she was told, and Antioche grabbed onto the school-bus and pushed herself up a window. Little faces stared at her from inside, with snotty noses and missing teeth. Some of them had their phones out, ridiculously large in their tiny hands, recording the madwoman who was dangling outside their window while they hurtled on the highway. The fierce woman straightened her bike and kept steady. She mumbled to herself, “Thank you for saving my life Bremusa. I acknowledge how good a lieutenant you are Bremusa. My, what big strong hands you have Bremusa,” and gripped the steering wheel. Antioche grabbed on for dear life and slapped the window. “Open the window! Come on you little shits.” A little boy with ears sticking out, jerked back and hid under the seat. The school-bus driver took out a gun and pointed it back at Antioche, who didn’t notice and still held on precariously. He drove with his left hand and crossed the right to point the gun blindly, taking peeks at the mirror. Bremusa snarled and took off her helmet. She grabbed it by the leash and slammed it on the school-bus’ mirror, smashing it and sending shards of glass everywhere. She knew she couldn’t simultaneously drive, smash the mirror and protect her face so she just closed her eyes hard and hoped not to get blinded. She felt a few warm pinpricks on her face and pulled her smarthelmet back on, wincing as she did. Some little pieces of glass stuck on her face and the helmet turned them into neat slicing knives. Nevermind that, she could handle a few scars. Not having a helmet at this speed would make her face peel off on the street if she fell. She glanced back and saw Antioche still slapping the window, holding on to the side of the school-bus. She snarled in the intercom, “Melousa, throw a candybar at Antioche, now!” Melousa, the sweet one, protested, “I don’t have any-” “NOW! Or I’ll chain up your fridge you thick-skinned pachyderm,” bellowed Antioche into the comms. Melousa pushed her lower lip up and revved up her Harley. She stuck her soft chubby hand in a pocket. A candy bar flew in the air parallel to the school-bus’ windows, rotated a few times and got snatched by Antioche. She slapped her gloved palm in the glass and held it there. The kids saw the candy bar and got excited. Any shred of hesitation they might have had up to now evaporated, and they rushed in to open the window. Antioche pushed her slender upper body inside and threw the candy bar on the seat away from her. The kids cheered and fought about who would get a piece. Antioche got in the school-bus and moved towards the driver. He pointed his gun at her. Bremusa watched her as she stood there, arms raised. She knew that Antioche would never dare to dodge incoming fire in this situation. The risk of hitting a child was too high. “Dammit, dammit,” she hissed and bit her lip. Bremousa knew that her leader would rather stay still and take a bullet than endanger little kids. She leaned into the shotgun holster and gripped her weapon, hesitating. Her leader had just directly forbidden her from pulling out guns. But she was in danger, a mortal one. Maybe she could disobey her this time. It’s not like Antioche could think ahead for every possible contingency. She hadn’t planned for that. Bremusa shook her head and relaxed her grip. No, she couldn’t risk it. Even if she saved her, even if she was nowhere near endangering the kids from shotgun fire, Antioche would beat her down senseless. “Dammit!” she hissed once more and grabbed the shotgun. “Do not engage,” she ordered the others. Then she folded open the shotgun with a swift one-handed motion that made the shells fall on the asphalt and disappear behind. They were running close to a bend now, and she had to act fast because it might change the situation when they got there. Not to mention that the driver might fire at any second. Bremusa could hear him from Antioche’s intercom. He was nervous, breathing hard. He tried to divide his attention between driving the school-bus at great speeds and threatening Antioche with his gun. “This was your big plan little girl? You come in here, then what, huh?” Antioche held her arms up in surrender, but she held her ground. Not only that, she actually covered the children with her lithe body. To do that, she took a step forward to lessen the gun’s possible angle of spread. “Yeah. You got me. Here, you have a hostage now, let the kids go. I’m a small skinny girl, surely a big man like you can handle me easily,” she told him, the words dripping with innuendo. “Oh no, she’s trying to flirt,” Bremusa said to herself. She turned on the comms. “Everybody be alert.” “Oh yeah?” the driver said. He hesitated for a few seconds, watching the road and craning his neck back at her. “Maybe I won’t. Maybe… I’ll just shoot you right here and now.” “There’s no reason for anyone to get hurt. Take me as a hostage, I swear I won’t resist. I’ll order the rest to back down so you can let the kids at a sidewalk, and then we can go wherever your plan is. You and me. Whaddaya say?” “Lemme see. Noble, but no. You want to die so much for these kids, here you go then.” “Oh skata,” Antioche said and covered her face instinctively. Bremusa steered closer to the school-bus and knocked on the driver’s door with the tip of her shotgun, as if it was a house’s door and she just showed up with wine. “Hey d**k face,” she snarled at him and caught his attention. She nodded with her helmet down-wards and the driver saw the shotgun pointed straight at his crotch. He startled, veered right in an attempt to put some distance between his balls and the angry lady and at that point, his lungs lost access to oxygen. Antioche spread on the dashboard, choked him with her legs and held the steering wheel steady, her head tilted sideways and minded the road. As the school-bus jerked from one side to the other and the man fought her, her helmet banged in rhythm on the plastic and Bremusa could hear it popping the mic. The driver got redder by the second, he thrashed and flailed his arms around trying to grab Antioche but she wasn’t gonna let him go. He managed a punch at her side and she winced for a moment, loosening her grip on him as he took in a breath. He tried to push her thighs away from his throat, then tried to dig his nails in her skin but her motorcycle suit protected her. His movements became slower, and she leaned close, putting all her remaining strength in the chokehold until he dropped unconscious to the side. The kids wooed and aah’d. She pulled herself straight up, took off her helmet and steadied the school-bus. Antioche’s hair fell on her shoulders and they were a brilliant shade of blonde. She adjusted the mirror to her height and smiled at the children, who all stared at her and snotted their sleeves. “It’s all right now. The bad man is sleeping, you are safe.” Antioche nodded at Bremusa. The leading rider gave an order to stand down and the convoy of bikes came into an easy formation as they rolled down the highway, all tension gone from their shoulders. One female rider, who stood out like a jester in a fancy-suit restaurant, drove next to Bremusa. She had a flamboyant yellow bike and a red helmet with fluffy ears on it. An action camera was strapped on the helmet, and she turned her head towards the victorious Antioche. Antioche waved at the camera and made a thumbs up gesture, smiling for the audience.