It started with a cloud.
A fluffy one.
Drifting unusually low over the city.
Tatsu noticed first.
"…Is that cloud moving wrong."
Leonhart glanced up from his tea.
"It is drifting."
"No," Tatsu said slowly. "It is grazing."
Leonhart paused.
"…Clouds do not graze."
The cloud dipped.
And bleated.
All three of them stared upward.
A sheep descended from the sky.
Wings spread wide.
Feathers. Wool. Glowing golden eyes.
It landed gently on a streetlamp.
And bleated again.
Fridge Sama narrowed his eyes.
"…Incorrect."
Tatsu blinked.
"…Incorrect what."
"That is not how sheep function."
The sky tore open.
Not a dramatic rift.
More like a zipper being undone carelessly.
And then
Hundreds.
Flying sheep poured out.
Wool shimmering.
Wings beating rhythmically.
Bleating in perfect synchronization.
The city froze.
A car alarm went off.
One sheep dive-bombed it.
The alarm stopped.
Tatsu stared.
"…This is not a dungeon."
Leonhart's flames ignited slowly.
"No," he said. "This is humiliation."
The sheep began charging.
From the sky.
Like fluffy missiles.
The first one hit the pavement and bounced.
Then charged again.
Harder.
Its horns glowed faintly.
It slammed into a building.
The building cracked.
Tatsu screamed.
"THEY ARE BUILT DIFFERENT."
Fridge Sama stepped forward.
One sheep rushed him directly.
He raised one finger.
The air froze.
The sheep stopped mid-bleat.
Then gently fell.
Like a snowball.
It hit the ground.
Bounced.
Got up again.
Tatsu blinked.
"…It survived."
"Yes," Fridge Sama said calmly. "It is insulated."
More sheep descended.
Leonhart fired a controlled burst of Incinerate.
The wool ignited briefly
Then absorbed the heat.
The sheep glowed brighter.
"…They absorb fire," Leonhart muttered.
One sheep rammed him in the ribs.
He flew backward into a mailbox.
Tatsu gasped.
"THEY COUNTER YOU."
Another sheep dove at Tatsu.
He dodged desperately.
It missed.
Then turned mid-air.
"They have air control."
Fridge Sama's eyes sharpened.
"Wind-based propulsion. Wool insulation. Reinforced bone."
Tatsu shouted while running.
"WHY DO YOU SOUND IMPRESSED."
A group of sheep formed a spinning spiral overhead.
The spiral condensed.
Then launched downward like a woolen drill.
Fridge Sama extended his palm.
The spiral froze partially
But continued spinning.
The cold slowed them.
Did not stop them.
Leonhart stood up.
"Temperature layering," he muttered.
He compressed his flames.
Not outward.
Inward.
Superheated, focused ignition.
He blasted the center of the spiral.
Fridge Sama froze the outer edges simultaneously.
The sudden thermal shock destabilized the rotation.
The sheep spiral exploded outward.
Fluffy bodies bounced across rooftops.
Tatsu stared in awe.
"…Combo."
"Yes," Fridge Sama replied.
More sheep formed ranks.
Literal ranks.
Winged battalions.
They bleated in unison.
The sound pressure cracked windows.
Leonhart winced.
"They are coordinating."
Tatsu's brain kicked in.
"Disrupt rhythm."
Fridge Sama looked at him.
"Clarify."
"They move together," Tatsu shouted. "Break sync."
Fridge Sama snapped his fingers.
Ice patches formed randomly across rooftops.
Leonhart fired scattered bursts to alter wind flow.
The sheep formation broke.
Mid-air collisions.
Confusion.
Disorder.
Tatsu grabbed a fallen traffic sign.
"COME HERE YOU FLYING SWEATERS."
A sheep rammed him.
He spun in midair.
Landed badly.
"…I regret challenging livestock."
Fridge Sama stepped forward finally.
The temperature dropped drastically.
Not enough to freeze.
Just enough to stiffen wing joints.
Leonhart surged forward, using precise flame bursts to knock individual sheep out of the sky.
One by one.
Controlled.
Efficient.
The sky slowly cleared.
The last sheep hovered uncertainly.
It bleated weakly.
Fridge Sama stared at it.
"…Leave."
The sheep blinked.
Then flew back toward the torn sky.
The zipper-like tear sealed itself lazily.
Silence fell.
Wool drifted through the air like snow.
Tatsu lay on the pavement.
"…We got assaulted by airborne farm equipment."
Leonhart brushed wool off his coat.
"This city is degrading."
Fridge Sama looked at the sky.
"That was not random."
Tatsu groaned.
"We are not doing mystery."
Fridge Sama glanced down at him.
"We are not."
Pause.
Then he added calmly,
"But someone weaponized sheep."
Tatsu sat up slowly.
"…That is worse."
In the distance, news helicopters approached.
Somewhere else in the city
Another cloud began to descend.