My Trash Talent Is Actually OP!

The spot around Asher's arm suddenly lit up, burning with a deep pink or maybe red flames, depending on where you stood.

Asher trembled slightly from the sudden heat, but it was not done yet.

Cinder placed her second hand on his forehead, igniting another wave of flames that spread downward across his body.

It did not burn his hair. She controlled the flow with precision, but the flames latched onto the poison in his blood, using it as fuel.

Sinnett's blood, containing his own poison, served as a tracker.

And because Asher's body was already shutting down, the flames spread faster.

Within seconds, Asher's entire body was engulfed.

His screams were muffled by the vines around his mouth, vines that remained stubbornly green and alive despite the heat.

He tried to summon Orin,out of instinct, but Nova restricted it even though it was nearly impossible.

All Tay did was lean casually against the table, sipping a drink, watching the firestorm unfold like it was a live barbecue show.

It took five minutes.

Five agonizing, endless minutes of muffled screaming and body-writhing torture before the flames finally died down on their own, without any water or help.

As soon as the heat reduced, Emma quickly withdrew her vines, and Sinnett relaxed his locs from around Asher's arms.

But he kept one coiled tightly over the bleeding wound while he searched through the supplies Nova had brought.

"Asher..." Emma called softly, pulling him carefully off the chair and onto the ground into a more comfortable position.

"Asher..."

No answer.

Nova, who rarely showed emotion, could not help but let worry creep across her face.

But it was not because he was not waking up, it was because she could feel it.

She could feel him, still alive under the exhaustion.

Emma watched Asher's limp body, biting her lip in anxiety, until—

He sucked his teeth loudly and scoffed painfully.

"Bastards..." he muttered through cracked lips, his voice hoarse and dry from the heat.

His eyes, heavy and slow, parted open. The first face he saw was Sinnett, and he immediately frowned.

"You could have told me you were going to roast me alive," he grumbled.

"So I could mentally prepare, you psychopaths."

Sinnett just shrugged, unbothered, pulling out two bandage wraps from the bag with casual ease.

"Can you move?" Nova asked quietly, but even as she spoke, she was already closing her eyes, already knowing what he would say.

"I cannot feel my everything, idiot..." he started, then paused when he realized he was resting in Emma's arms.

He sighed heavily.

"Emma," he called, voice gentler, and she hummed softly in response.

"Tell me you weren't in on this?"

She slowly averted her gaze.

Asher's face dropped instantly, betrayal written all over his bloodied features.

"You cannot be serious..."

"I am sorry!" Emma blurted. "You were dying, and I had to do what he said!"

"You guys nearly cooked me to death!" he groaned.

"You should be grateful that little roast there cured you," Tay stated from the corner, nonchalantly swirling his drink.

He laughed when Asher sent a half-hearted glare at him.

"Yeah... thanks," Asher rasped, dragging his words.

"Now I am going to walk around with burnt skin, a dissected arm, and everyone will think I am some failed science experiment."

Sinnett chuckled lowly, the sound rumbling from deep in his chest.

All eyes shifted to him as he knelt down, tossing one of the bandages at Nova.

"Who said anything about letting you walk around the city like an escaped livestock?"

Sinnett correct crouched down beside him, and tightened a bandage around Asher's arm while his locs slowly unwrapped themselve.

"Emma. Take him down to his apartment," he said coolly. "Get him cleaned up. Feed him."

Emma nodded without hesitation, slipping under Asher's arm to help him up.

"Come on," she said quietly.

Asher didn't fight her. He moved stiffly, half-limping as they disappeared down the stairwell.

The moment they were gone, the pressure on the rooftop exploded.

Tay stormed forward without warning and slammed a fist squarely across Cinder's face.

The sound of impact echoed, and Cinder stumbled into the wall with a gasp, clutching her cheek.

"You....!" Tay started, chest heaving, but then froze halfway through the second swing. His hand dropped awkwardly. "Shit," he muttered, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "... I'm sorry."

Cinder said nothing at first, just standing there, her shoulders tight, hand trembling at her cheek.

Then, she whispered, "I'm sorry... I know... I'm sorry..."

Tay turned away, cursing under his breath, pacing like a storm barely contained.

Meanwhile, Nova worked silently, her movements quick but very efficient.

She cleaned the ruined rooftop bit by bit, bloodstains, shards of broken tile, scorched marks from the earlier fight, not bothering to hide the irritation etched into her face.

Sinnett watched her with lazy interest from where he leaned against the railing.

"You clean up well for someone so rough around the edges," he said, voice dripping with amusement.

Nova didn't even glance at him.

"Unlike you, some of us know how to fix what we break," she said, wringing a bloodied rag into a bucket and tossing it aside.

Sinnett gave a soft laughter, unbothered. "Fixing it doesn't undo the mess," he said. "Just hides it better."

"Better than sitting around looking pretty and letting others do the work," Nova snapped, dragging a heavy piece of shattered metal out of the way with a grunt.

"You must be used to that."

Tay threw Sinnett a look, but Sinnett only smiled, all teeth and laziness.

"Touché," he said.

A cold silence stretched between them, broken only by the distant sounds of night winds.

It was during this grim silence that the soft scuff of footsteps echoed from the stairwell.

Emma returned first, followed by Asher, his entire body wrapped tightly in clean white bandages. His hair was messy, sticking out in all directions, and his new clothes hung awkwardly over the wrappings.

In one hand, he still gripped the sad remains of am apple.

He looked completely fed up, his posture stiff, his presence muted, but there was a flicker of something else behind the layers of bandages.

Relief, maybe Comfort. Because no one could see him now.

The rooftop had barely acknowledged their return when a figure landed on the roof silently.

A cloaked figure, faceless, reappeared near the cracked table where Nova and clean, on their shoulder was the limp, pale body of Zero.

Without a word, the figure strode forward, their presence muted but somehow heavy, as if dragging cold air in their wake.

They reached the table, laid Zero's body down with care, turned toward Sinnett, and bowed low, deeply respectful.

Then they vanished without uttering a single word.

Asher staggered close, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the body.

Zero's hair was tangled and wild, her skin a sickly shade, her armor broken, but what hit hardest was the complete, absolute emptiness that clung to her.

No light.

No soul.

Nothing.

He pinched her eye lids opened, and saw that it was black, indicating how empty and how much the poison had eaten.

He stood there for a moment, the weight of what could have been crushing down on him.

And then, rough and reluctant, he muttered under his breath:

"...Thanks."

Because he knew, if Sinnett hadn't gotten a solution, he would also end up like that, and there wouldn't be anyone to raise him.

So he was grateful, for being alive at least.