Newt and Keisha had been laying down on the hard floor of their little cabin, a nice draft coming through the broken window, and Dante sleeping on Keisha's lap, when everything went black.

Thomas, Minho, Brenda and Jorge had been sitting in their berg quietly- still heartbroken, stunned and troubled after leaving the slightly insane Newt at the Crank Palace.

The Gladers had been preparing to deal with another night with the doors open, Minho and Thomas only just have come back from inside the maze.

The first to wake was Newt- his head felt clearer then it had in ages, he blinked in surprise- there was a certain..lack of insanity. Had he really become so used to it that he could detect it when he thought it was gone, was he really that bloody close to the place of no return, the gone?

He looked around- he seemed to be in a large room with two cozy large couches in the middle.

But what really shocked him was that there was a younger version of himself laying in a corner surrounded by the Gladers- bloody all of them, there was Alby- who Newt knew was dead. Zart, Jack, Winston, etc.

Now I really am losing my bloody crank mind. Bloody Flare.

Newt glanced around the room, his blue eyes widening as he saw his friends- the ones he had threatened with a launcher only a mere five or six hours ago.

Newt suddenly noticed a weight on his shoulder, his head snapped to the side to see what- or who, it was.

Newt relaxed when he realized that it was Keisha, his mother, sister figure.

He really didn't know anymore- maybe it was the Flare, eating away at his mind.

Looking around, Newt nodded- the Flare had definitely eaten his mind away- this was just, insane. Thinks the Insane person.

Around the room, the others were stirring- well not the bloody Gladers, but his friends, from the present time.

As they woke they glanced around muttering, Newt heard Thomas ask, "Where are we?"

Newt would have shrunk backwards, away from his imaginary friends. But whatever was left of Newt's manners made him sit still, not that he'd had many to begin with- therefore he didn't disturb Keisha and Dante- his life goal seemed to be letting them sleep- again.

Before his bloody friends could see him, he announced rather loudly.

"Bloody heck- I really am losing my sanity ." Newt said, making his friends' heads' snap around to stare at him incredulously- with a dash of surprised and shock too.

Keisha seemed to have awoken because it was her sarcastic voice that answered him. "I know I didn't know you before you had the Flare- but from what I've seen of your logical not crank side- I'd say you didn't have sanity to begin with." Keisha said, somehow sounding bloody nice whilst insulting him.

Newt pouted at her- deciding to just ignore his imaginary friends.

"...thanks, Keisha. Way to make a guy feel better about the inevitable loss of his bloody sanity. I don't know what I would do without you here to remind me that I never had sanity to begin with." Newt was aware of his friends staring at him with wide stunned eyes. Newt knew why- the last time they had seen him he had been pointing a bloody buggin launcher at their heads.

Keisha huffed a laugh. "Your welcome. And at least then you aren't technically losing anything. Problem solved."

Suddenly a new voice entered the conversation and it didn't come from any of the three cranks or Newt's friends.

Newt noticed that the voice was disturbingly like his.

"What the bloody, buggin 'heck happened. And where in the name of all the Grievers, am I?" Past Newt exclaimed.

"What the-!" Exclaimed Thomas, jumping as his head snapped around to the Gladers, quickly followed by the others.

The other Gladers, Newt noticed, seemed to be awakening, glancing around and asking questions before shutting up soon seeing Newt's friends.

They didn't seem to notice the very battered adult, teenager and child in the corner- much to Newt's amusement- was that himself or the Flare talking? Newt really didn't know, or care- for that matter- anymore.

Keisha seemed to have finally come around and seen their surroundings, she glanced between Newt, Newt's friends, and the Gladers a couple times.

"..I think I've gone insane too." She said, louder than she meant to.

Newt didn't notice all heads in the room jerking over to stare at Keisha, Dante and himself.

"At least we went insane together." Newt muttered, his accent more pronounced then normal- the Flare had been slowly eating it away- what a shame.

"Ah- Newt, hate to ask you, but as you would say, Where the bloody heck, are we, and why is there a younger version of yourself over there." Keisha nodded to Newt's younger self.

"Keisha, we've been over this. The bloody Flare finally finished off both our shucking sanity. Let's just bloody accept it and wallow in our insanity together." Newt said, still not noticing everyone staring at the two cranks.

"Well- it's been nice knowing ya. But..what about Jacky..?" Keisha said, her normally strong voice wavering.

Newt swallowed, punching the floor. "I donno, Keish." Newt started before pausing. "..I'm sorry." He said, looking down.

Suddenly he perked up. "Maybe we both bumped our shunkin' heads, and we're both dreaming." He suggested.

Keisha rolled her dark brown eyes. "And we're both dreaming, the same dream. And when might we have hit our heads. Honestly, sometimes I really feel like I have a third child." She said sarcastically, Newt just smirked at her.

"Thanks, mum." He threw as much sarcasm into his words as humanly- or crankly- possible.

Meanwhile.

Thomas stared at Newt and the women- Keisha, in shock.

What in the shunkin' heck was going on? Thomas knew he wasn't dreaming, he would know if he was dreaming, he wasn't that stupid.

So that meant this was real- because Thomas knew he didn't have the Flare.

Thomas and Minho exchanged a shocked look, only a few hours before, Newt had threatened to electrocute them with a launcher, now only a few hours later, he was calling a random women mum.

Thomas watched in a mix of stunned confusion, as Keisha handed her child- looked about maybe two or three years old- to Newt who took the child like a skilled babysitter.

"Here then, hold your brother." Keisha said, smirking at the crank.

Thomas trusted Newt with his life, Newt was his best friend, but...he wasn't exactly sane persay, so handing him a little kid probably wasn't the best idea.

But..according to the conversation, the woman was a crank two.

"Maybe we should try smashing our heads into the wall, then we'll wake up." Newt said sarcastically.

"That's worse then your fantastic idea to go to the heckin' Crank Palace." Keisha huffed, Thomas thought she seemed surprisingly sane, had she only just caught the Flare?

"Hey! That was a great idea, now we have a beautiful, cozy, cabin with a lovely draft. Not to mention the totally wonderful neighbors, it's just insane to think it was a bad idea to get caught and go there. It would be insane to ask for anything more than such a beautiful place to live out the rest of our short insane days. Nice purple company too." Newt said all in one long breath, the two cranks seemed to have forgotten that there was anyone else in the room, Thomas noticed, or maybe, they were just ignoring everyone.

Thomas was aware that the Gladers- from the shuckin' past- we're talking quietly among themselves- probably trying to figure out what was going on, why their future selves were there, and what on earth had happened to Newt- because he looked like a piece of Klunk.

"Why yes, we even have your lovely cronies, such nice bodyguards that just love to guard the infamous lord Newt- the lord of the mazes, or some crud like that." Keisha said, Thomas's eyebrows rose, lord of the mazes?

Newt huffed. "I can't believe that Jonesie is still willing to worship the ground I walk on after I shot him with the bloody launcher." The crank said with a smirk and light laugh.

Thomas didn't know if he should be relieved that Newt seemed okay- and somewhat happy, or be worried, because he was starting to sound a little coo- coo in the head.

"Maybe you should use him as target practice, you could use a little work. Also, you're running, you need to speed things up, how are we supposed to win mini races in the afterlife if you can't run properly?" The woman said, patting the other crank on the back.

"Ya, you try bloody runnin' with a limp and then accuse me of being bloody slow, it's not my fault that I can't keep up with your darn speed." Newt huffed back, using one hand to stroke the child's back and the other to shove Keisha softly.

The women looked like she was about to interrupt, but Minho- the younger version, spoke up.

"Not meaning to break up this.. interesting conversation, but- what the shuck's going on?" The keeper of the runners asked.

Newt answered before Thomas could. "Nothin' is buggin' going on because your not really here, I'm just bloody insane." Newt said, somewhat bitterly.

"..and why am I- you- we insane?" Asked Newt from the glade, looking somewhat concerned for his future selves sanity- as he should be.

"Cuz I've got the bloody Flare." Newt said, sounding somewhat dangerous, his left eye twitching.

"...and what might this Flare thing be?" Asked Thomas from the past, looking at Newt like he was seeing a ghost.

Thomas thought it was weird to see his past self look at his crank friend like that.

"I'm glad you asked, Tommy. Well you see, for those of us who aren't shucking munies, we get the Flare. The Flare eats away at someone's sanity until there's nothing bloody left of who you used to be. And there's no bloody cure, and there never bloody will be. But don't worry, you're all immune. I was just a bloody control subject." Newt said bitterly, glaring daggers at the Gladers.

Thomas could see Newt's sanity flickering in his eyes, as if it was being turned off and on like a light.

Newt quickly handed the child to Keisha, who took the child in her left arms and used the other to pull Newt close, looking over the others in the room suspiciously as she protectively held Newt close.

Newt, Thomas thought, seemed to be having some kind of migraine, as he clutched his head, long dirty blond hair falling in front of his tightly closed eyes.

Thomas had to grab Minho to stop him from running over to Newt, knowing that after their last meeting with the crank- they'd only make things worse.

Thomas felt Brenda shift besides him.

They talked quietly for a couple minutes, stopping when Newt seemed to recover.

Newt from the past spoke up, the first Glader to speak after Newt's bitter speech.

"..what happened to me?" He said quietly.

Thomas looked over at his old friend sadly. "What happens to everyone after the sun flares, unless you're immune or rich, you become a crank. WICKED, the people who put you- us, in the maze. They're trying to find a cure and sense your immune; they put you in the maze to run experiments. It's all about someone's brain and blood, if you're a munie or not. WICKED took us all as kids, killed our families- if we even had families left at that point." Thomas explained, emotionless.

Minho beside him nodded. "WICKED will never, ever, stop. Not until we stop them."

Brenda and Jorge nodded, agreeing with the Asian former keeper of the runner.

"So we get out of the maze soon?" Chuck asked hopefully, Thomas flinched, noticing his old friend for the first time, seeing him brought up all the pain of his death again, blasting through the immune's system.

Minho looked over the Gladers. "Ya, this Shuckface's there." Minho paused to gesture to Thomas before continuing. "So you should be out within a week."

The Gladers looked between the two Thomas's in stunned silence before nodding.

"So, what bloody happened to myself- even if I got the Flare thingy, why aren't I sitting by you shanks?" Newt asked.

Thomas flinched, but Newt nodded towards his past- self. "I wouldn't tell ya if you were real, but I'm insane, so you're definitely fake. So I'll tell ya what bloody happened." The crank said, shifting so he was sitting up a little.

"When these shanks," he gestured towards Thomas, Minho, Brenda and Jorge. "Left to go into Denver- don't ask why. We already knew I'd gotten the bloody Flare, so I didn't go buggin with 'em- didn't wanna inflict insanity amongst the masses. So after they left I wrote 'em a buggin' note, telling them I'd been bloody taken to live with all the loonies at the luxurious, fancy and extra cozy Crank Palace- which is where all us poor un- immune, unimportant saps go when we've got the bloody Flare." Newt was cut off by Thomas.

"So you weren't taken? You just left us?" The former runner demanded, not really angry, more hurt, but still somewhat angry.

"What'd you bloody expect me to do, huh? Sit around drinkin' tea while I lost my sanity? Force one of you to kill me at some point cuz' I was bloody insane? Make you watch whilst the Newt you knew withered away to nothing more than just some insane, bloodthirsty animal? I had no bloody choice." Newt practically yelled, glaring daggers at Thomas, who's brown eyes were wide, he was fighting back tears.

"I had to Tommy, I had to." Newt said in a much gentler voice, ignoring the Gladers stunned staring and continued his story.

"Anyways, after I left the burg, I just bloody walked away, not really havin' a buggin' plan. I ended up sittin' in some bloody street, then these cars- more like tanks- showed up, started knocking em' cranks out, I just sat there staring as they threw the cranks into the back of the bloody tanks." Newt said, stopping for breath.

Keisha smirked. "That's where I met the idiot, just sitting there, staring at the cars like a moron." Newt rolled his eyes at his friend? Sister? Mother? Who knew, let's just go with…. fellow crank.

Newt picked the story up. "Ya, then Keisha abducted me into her cult." He said, earning a slap over the head.

"Fine, fine. She told me to come with her, and I didn't even really think about sayin' no, so we ended up under a tree or somethin' I can't bloody remember- to rest. After that we started walkin' down the street only took a while before we were found by some guards or whatever the bloody heck they were. Anyways, let's just say we didn't get along with 'em. Keisha may or may not have shot two of them, and I may or may not have broken the other shank's skull." Newt paused as everyone got a shocked look on their faces. "Hey- I only bloody attacked the shank, because one on 'em shot Keisha with a launcher of some sort. Anyways, it might not have been my sanest moment. I got shot with one of 'em launchers or hit with somethin'- don't really buggin' remember. Then we were both tossed into a car by a couple shuck guards, they at least were a little gentler with Dante." Newt nodded towards the child. "Then we drove in the bloody car a while before they gave us a lovely warm shower and dumped us at the Crank Palace. Then Keisha and I found a cabin, which had a nice broken window, to live the rest of our shuck days in. Nothing else really happened since then, we met some crank and his wife, the wife jumped into a fire. I went for a nice stroll to where most the cranks are, and saw some things you do not want to hear about. Met Jonesie and his cronies. Then Keisha tried to run away to find her brother, who apparently has her daughter, Jackie. I stopped her and in my crankish way, made her see sense. Then you bloody idiots showed up, I yelled, couldn't really think straight. Shot Jonesie with the launcher after he attacked Tommy and Minho, then threatened to shoot 'em if they didn't bloody leave. And then here we are." Newt said all in one long breath.

Everyone stared at him, shocked.

Suddenly Thomas called out, "Hey, what's this?"

Newt looked over to see what Thomas had found, it was a note, and a book.

"What is it?" Asked Minho, leaning forward a little- not that it made a difference considering he was half a room away.

"It says; Here is a book on what happened that led up to breaking out of the maze, that way your past selves can change things. Sadly this can't change the future, but it creates a new dimension- where things can be better, when you're done with this book, I'll send another down. Also give these vials to Keisha, Newt and Dante, it should slow down the Flare a little, since Newt's not exactly at his sanest- he still won't be completely sane once he takes his, but it will stop him from going more insane, for a while at least. Keisha and Dante might be immunes, but I'm not taking the chances. Btw, time is paused in your world.

Singed S.S.B. C.C.C. R.R.M. F.S.P. M.F.W." Thomas read.

It took awhile but everyone ended up on the couches, the Gladers taking one long couch, some Gladers sitting on the floor- considering there were fifty or so of them.

Thomas, Minho, Brenda and Jorge had taken one side of the other couch, Newt, Keisha and Dante took the other. Thomas and Newt were the two of the groups the closest, because Thomas sat at the end of his group and Newt sat at the beginning of his.

Minho picked up the book.

Newt nodded. "Let's get this bloody thing over with so Keisha and I can get back to our lovely little house." He said sarcastically.

Minho rolled his eyes, still somewhat shocked at what future Newt was like.

"Okay let's see, here we go." Minho said, flipping to the first page and started reading.

"The Maze Runner

CHAPTER 1

He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air."

Keisha raised an eyebrow. "That's a nice new life, think maybe I could join in on all that fun." She asked sarcastically.

Newt rolled his eyes at his fellow crank.

Most of the Gladers and F.G's shuddered remembering their first time in the box.

Minho, Thomas, Brenda and Jorge were the F.G's for future Gladers.

"Who wants to bet it's Thomas coming up?" Minho asked, glancing around everyone nodded- it had to be Thomas.

"Metal ground against metal; a lurching shudder shook the floor beneath him. He fell down at the sudden movement and shuffled backward on his hands and feet, drops of sweat beading on his forehead despite the cool air. His back struck a hard metal wall; he slid along it until he hit the corner of the room. Sinking to the floor, he pulled his legs up tight against his body, hoping his eyes would soon adjust to the darkness."

"Aww- aren't you just adorable." Chuck said poking Thomas mockingly on the shoulder.

Thomas rolled his eyes, not noticing Thomas's eyes on him and Chuck, looking at them sadly.

However Newt did notice, why was this.. future Tommy looking so sad at the sight of his past self and Chuck messing around?

Newt didn't linger on it though- after all he had only just figured out that his future self was somewhat insane and was apparently quickly becoming even more insane by the hour.

With another jolt, the room jerked upward like an old lift in a mine shaft.

Harsh sounds of chains and pulleys, like the workings of an ancient steel factory, echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls with a hollow, tinny whine. The lightless elevator swayed back and forth as it ascended, turning the boy's stomach sour with nausea; a smell like burnt oil invaded his senses, making him feel worse. He wanted to cry, but no tears came; he could only sit there, alone, waiting.

"Huh, most of us bloody cried." Newt said, somewhat randomly.

"Heh, you did. You thought we'd turn cannibal and eat you or something." Minho said, a little warily- but he was willing to take a risk if it meant he would be able to have his friend back- insane or not.

Newt huffed, whilst Newt held back a blush.

"Awww, I always knew you'd be such a cute little baby lizard." Keisha said, throwing one arm over the other crank's shoulders.

"Ugh, Keisha for the last time, I'm not a child- or a bloody lizard!." The crank said, glaring half heartedly at his friend.

"You'll always be a baby and a lizard to me." Keisha said, patting his head mockingly.

Newt growled a little, whilst Minho huffed a laugh.

The Gladers all just stared- the future was messed up, really, really messed up.

Thomas watched Newt- surprised, how could his friend sound so content with his incoming insanity. Newt seemed to be happy slowly losing his insanity as long as he was with this Keisha. Thomas wished he could have helped Newt- but he wasn't about to shuckin' shoot his friend. For now at least, Thomas was just happy that Newt seemed okay, insane or not- Newt would always be Thomas's best friend along with Minho.

My name is Thomas, he thought.

"I was right!" Minho exclaimed, punching the air in victory, most people just chuckled at Minho's excitement- except for Alby who was staring at nothing, now knowing for sure that what he'd seen during the Changing was real. Alby had vaguely remembered the Flare- and of all people to get it, it just had to be Newt. Why of all the Gladers did it have to be Newt?

That ... that was the only thing he could remember about his life.

"That must be a nice feeling- forgetting everything." Keisha said sarcastically- Thomas was starting to think that the women could only be sarcastic.

Newt nodded. "Kind like havin' the buggin' Flare, except you get to be more sane." He said it like it was a normal thing to say. Keisha nodded.

Minho was really starting to get worked up with these two cranks, why did they have to talk about their approaching insanity like it was a normal thing?

Then Minho realized that they probably didn't have much else to talk about.

But still- it was shuckin' annoying.

Newt looked at his future self- he didn't know how to feel about how his future self was acting, like future him didn't look like he was going to off himself or something. But Newt didn't know what to bloody think about the insanity right behind his future self's eyes, or the constant twitching- like he could snap at any moment.

Snap, yes. Snap and break someone's neck.

Ya, Newt was bloody losing it- looking at his future self- who was indeed losing it.

Another thing that bothered Newt was that his future self only looked like maybe a year older then he currently was.

Newt was aware of his past self's eyes on him, he knew he didn't look the sanest- that with the constant twitching that came from the paranoia from being trapped in a room.

Minho went back to reading.

"He didn't understand how this could be possible. His mind functioned without flaw, trying to calculate his surroundings and predicament. Knowledge flooded his thoughts, facts and images, memories and details of the world and how it works. He pictured snow on trees, running down a leaf-strewn road, eating a hamburger, the moon casting a pale glow on a grassy meadow, swimming in a lake, a busy city square with hundreds of people bustling about their business."

"Shuck, it was about a day before any of us remembered Klunk like that." Minho said, looking towards his new Runner- who just shrugged.

All the Gladers looked towards future Thomas, who shrank back a little at having all those eyes on him.

"You know why, don't you." Asked Winston looking straight into Thomas's eyes, who nodded.

Everyone's eyes were on him, Thomas finally snapped. "Just go back to reading the book." He said uncomfortably.

Thomas almost jumped in the air in shock when he felt a hand patting his shoulder consolingly, Thomas looked around, and to his surprise Newt was the one patting his shoulder.

"And yet he didn't know where he came from, or how he'd gotten inside the dark lift, or who his parents were. He didn't even know his last name. Images of people flashed across his mind, but there was no recognition, their faces replaced with haunted smears of color. He couldn't think of one person he knew, or recall a single conversation."

All the Gladers and F.G's shuddered- Brenda and Jorge from the thought of it.

Newt didn't though, he would take losing all his memories to having the bloody Flare any day.

At least one could keep their sanity without memories.

"The room continued its ascent, swaying; Thomas grew immune to the ceaseless rattling of the chains that pulled him upward. A long time passed. Minutes stretched into hours, although it was impossible to know for sure because every second seemed an eternity."

"You were only in there for roughly half an hour, shuck- face." Minho huffed, Thomas grumbled something intelligible.

"I know that Minho- I'm smarter than that." Thomas said, pouting at his friend.

"...No you aren't." Newt joined in sarcastically- if he only had roughly a year to be sane, he'd like to spend it having more bloody fun then he normally did.

Sure, when he was in the maze- he knew he could die any bloody minute, but that was different from knowing exactly when you'd bloody die.

And Newt rather liked being sane, thank you very much.

Thomas was surprised that Newt had joined in on the mocking conversation, considering how uptight the deputy had been lately- but he was delighted to have his other friend join in and try having fun for once.

"No. He was smarter than that. Trusting his instincts, he knew he'd been moving for roughly half an hour."

"For your sake- I'm glad you could figure that out, otherwise you'd be deader than a fish without water." Keisha said, causing everyone to stare at her.

Newt huffed. "Get used to it, she likes to bloody use her weirdo sentences." He said, looking at everyone, though there seemed to be a warning under his icy blue eyes, it was clear, don't insult her.

"Weirdo sentences? Your one to talk mister, 'and then like any rational human being would do, I waved the launcher around like a cracked up junky.' Or whatever you said." Keisha huffed, whilst the Gladers hid their incredulous looks.

"That's not a weirdo sentence!" Newt complained, causing Keisha to smirk.

"You know what, your right." Keisha paused for affect. "It was the rambling of a mad man." She said, patting him on the shoulder.

Brenda watched in shock, she'd seen meny cranks- lived with them, they'd never been this…. calm before.

Normally the ones who'd only just learned they had the illness cried, or raged or something like that- they gave up. And the ones that were at the point Newt was, well they weren't logical, they didn't make jokes- they acted like Newt had acted earlier that day, when they came to find him. Irrational, angry, dangerous- they did not talk about going insane like it was fine- cranks normally raged or cried when the subject was brought up, they didn't make jokes about their impending doom.

Brenda noticed that Keisha didn't seem affected by the Flare at all- most likely immune as the note had said. But she could see Newt struggling- constantly. Like a war was raging inside him- yet, he wasn't giving up.

"Strangely enough, he felt his fear whisked away like a swarm of gnats caught in the wind, replaced by an intense curiosity. He wanted to know where he was and what was happening."

Everyone who had to suffer the maze with Thomas groaned.

"God have mercy on us." Minho said, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers and squeezing his eyes shut.

Both Thomas's scowled at the Asian.

"Ugh, I was already going insane, this is just going to speed up the process. My sanity won't survive hearing all those bloody questions again." Newt said, smirking while Keisha huffed a laugh.

"I'm not that bad!" Both Thomas's cried at the same time.

"Not that bad? You don't go one bloody buggin' minute without askin' a darn question." Newt said looking at his friend incredulously, Newt nodded to his past self's statement.

Both Thomas's pouted.

Keisha raised her eyebrow. "You, young man, have no right to accuse someone of asking too many questions, I've had to live with you over a week, so I know for a fact, that you never shut that trap of yours." The women said, looking at Newt like a disapproving grandma.

"That's not true! My questions actually have a good reason behind them! I only ask intelligent, reasonable, questions!" The crank exclaimed, looking at his fellow crank with a fake look of betrayal in his eyes.

"You asked me how my family died, and why I named my kid after hell." Keisha said, raising one brown eyebrow at her adopted third child.

"...I was curious." Newt said bashfully.

All the Gladers were shocked, Newt was sarcastic, sure. But he hardly ever asked questions- even when he was curious. Also besides Minho, Gally and Alby- and the greenie, it would seem- no one ever really backtalked Newt like this woman did.

Meanwhile, Thomas was surprised, and gleeful- he could hold this over Newt for the rest of the… books?

Minho just sighed- another thing that had changed about Newt- then he raised an eyebrow.

"..you named your kid after hell?" He asked, tilting his head at the Crank.

She huffed in annoyance. "No- I didn't name my kid after hell. I named him after the man who defined hell…. I might have been drunk when I decided the name.." Keisha said, smirking, tilting her head at Newt as if waiting for something.

Newt smirked.

"Drunk and cornies the way to go these days." The crank said, making most people really think he was losing it.

Minho rolled his eyes and went back to reading.

"With a groan and then a clonk, the rising room halted; the sudden change jolted Thomas from his huddled position and threw him across the hard floor. As he scrambled to his feet, he felt the room sway less and less until it finally stilled. Everything fell silent .

A minute passed. Two. He looked in every direction but saw only darkness; he felt along the walls again, searching for a way out. But there was nothing, only the cool metal. He groaned in frustration; his echo amplified through the air, like the haunted moan of death."

Que everyone stares at both Thomas's, who both blushed.

"... That's not disturbing at all.." Minho said, looking at his friend like he was insane.

"Hey! It's not my fault, it was just a thought." Thomas said, pouting whilst Thomas nodded vigorously.

Newt raised a blond eyebrow. "A bloody terrifying thought."

Randomly Newt joined in on the conversation. "I can't say I haven't had more disturbing thoughts lately, but I have the Flare. And I still think that thought was a little creepy- and that's comparing your thoughts to an insane person's thoughts, remember that, or as Keisha put it, 'the rambling of a mad man." Newt said, smirking at his old friend.

Thomas rolled his eyes at the blond crank.

"..so what I've gathered is that Tommy's insane?" Newt asked his future self, sounding hopeful.

Newt nodded gravely, Keisha hit him over the head softly, making Newt yelp.

Minho watched Newt, worried, he'd never heard Newt yelp before, he knew his friend was slipping- but he couldn't, just couldn't let Newt go.

The same thoughts were racing through the Gladers and Thomas.

"It faded, and silence returned. He screamed, called for help, pounded on the walls with his fists.

Nothing.

Thomas backed into the corner once again, folded his arms and shivered, and the fear returned. He felt a worrying shudder in his chest, as if his heart wanted to escape, to flee his body."

"You're dead." Chuck said, smirking at Thomas, who rolled his eyes at his annoying little friend.

Teresa had been quiet beside him, not making a peep as she watched Newt like a hawk.

"Shut up, ya shank." Thomas said ruffling Chuck's hair playfully while the kid squirmed.

""Someone ... help ... me!" he screamed; each word ripped his throat raw.

A loud clank rang out above him and he sucked in a startled breath as he looked up. A straight line of light appeared across the ceiling of the room, and Thomas watched as it expanded. A heavy grating sound revealed double sliding doors being forced open. After so long in darkness, the light stabbed his eyes; he looked away, covering his face with both hands.

He heard noises above-voices-and fear squeezed his chest.

"You were scared of us?" Asked Minho, sounding happy about this fact.

"You weren't there." Thomas pointed out dryly.

"Well of course I was scared! I woke up in some shuck lift without memories and suddenly there's a bunch of shank's hovering over me, only an idiot wouldn't be scared." Thomas said, trying to defend himself- earning snickers from everyone besides his future self.

"Look at that shank."

"Who even said that?" Thomas asked, looking around at the Gladers with narrowed brown eyes.

Newt raised a sheepish hand, not looking regretful at all.

Thomas put a hand over his heart in mock hurt.

"Newt! I thought you were supposed to be my friend!" Thomas said, pouting at the second in command, who only smirked at him.

"How old is he?"

Chuck raised his hand, looking proud to have gotten a line.

"Looks like a klunk in a T-shirt."

"That was Gally." Newt said.

"You're the klunk, shuck-face."

Newt raised his hand again. When everyone stared at him he huffed. "Well Minho wasn't there to say it for me!" He defended himself, making everyone roll their eyes.

"Dude, it smells like feet down there!"

"That was Chuck." Newt nodded towards the twelve year old.

"Did anyone but you and Chuck talk?" Thomas groaned, rolling his eyes.

"No, not really." Newt said, looking like he was enjoying his old friend's pain.

Thomas merely sighed.

"Hope you enjoyed the one-way trip, Greenie."

When no one raised their hand- not wanting to admit that they had tried to scare the greenie, Keisha nodded towards Newt. "That was so him." She said with a smirk.

"Thanks a lot, mum." He said without thinking, Keisha seemed to think it was normal- cause she didn't say anything about it.

Everyone had to stop themselves from staring though, knowing Newt wasn't in his right mind.

Thomas pushes those thoughts away, and pouted at his blond friend.

"Anytime, Newt." Keisha said, patting Newt's head like he was a dog, much to the amusement of everyone.

The amusement only doubled when Newt didn't pull away- like any other teenager would have.

"Ain't no ticket back, bro."

Alby raised a hand, smirking a little at Thomas.

"Wow, thank you so much guys. You made me feel so safe." Groubled said greenie, earning laughs from most of the Gladers and F.G's.

"Thomas was hit with a wave of confusion, blistered with panic. The voices were odd, tinged with echo; some of the words were completely foreign-others felt familiar. He willed his eyes to adjust as he squinted toward the light and those speaking. At first he could see only shifting shadows, but they soon turned into the shapes of bodies-people bending over the hole in the ceiling, looking down at him, pointing."

"Pointings rude!" Both Thomas's exclaimed at once, before blushing.

Everyone cracked up.

Newt just raised an eyebrow at Thomas.

"And then, as if the lens of a camera had sharpened its focus, the faces cleared. They were boys, all of them-some young, some older. Thomas didn't know what he'd expected, but seeing those faces puzzled him. They were just teenagers. Kids. Some of his fear melted away, but not enough to calm his racing heart.

Someone lowered a rope from above, the end of it tied into a big loop. Thomas hesitated, then stepped into it with his right foot and clutched the rope as he was yanked toward the sky. Hands reached down, lots of hands, grabbing him by his clothes, pulling him up."

"Jeez, why couldn't one of you just offer me a hand? Instead of swarming around me like I was a shiny new toy?" Thomas muttered, half heartedly glaring at the Gladers.

Keisha laughed, whilst Newt blushed- making everyone look at them.

"Don't. You. Dare, Keisha." The young crank practically growled, blushing bright red.

The women smirked. "He fell down- and since he's practically a celebrity at the Crank Palace, like a hundred cranks tried to help him all at once. When he was finally back on his feet he tripped over somebody's foot, and face planted." The women said joyfully.

Newt groaned in embarrassment, everyone cracked up at the story and both Newt's faces.

"The world seemed to spin, a swirling mist of faces and color and light. A storm of emotions wrenched his gut, twisted and pulled; he wanted to scream, cry, throw up. The chorus of voices had grown silent, but someone spoke as they yanked him over the sharp edge of the dark box. And Thomas knew he'd never forget the words.

"Nice to meet ya, shank," the boy said. "Welcome to the Glade.""

Even though Alby didn't talk much anymore- or do much of anything he smirked at the greenie turned runner.

"So, Shank, you'll never forget my words? I'm touched." He said mockingly.

Thomas just rolled his eyes.

Minho paused. "That was the end of the chapter, maybe we should see if there's anything to eat here." The Asian suggested, looking around.

Keisha looked down at her tiny son. "Dante probably needs to eat something soon." The female crank said, looking concerned.

Thomas watched as Newt leaned towards the little boy. "When was that last time we ate?" He asked, stroking the kid's hair.

"Yesterday, lunch. We couldn't use any of that meat- it was too far past expired and you weren't able to bring any food back from the central." Keisha said, looking up at Newt.

"Crud- I must've forgotten- that with the plan and these shanks coming to get me. I'm sorry, Keisha." Newt said, looking ashamed of himself.

"Hey, hey. It's not your fault." Keisha said gently, hugging the teenager closer.

Thomas's eyes were wide. ".. wait the last time any of you ate was yesterday at noon." He said sounding a mix of horrified and worried.

It was one thing for a grown woman and teenager to go that long without food- but for a three year old...

Newt looked at him curiously.

"Well, ya. There ain't much bloody food to go around, you eat what ya can when you can, I was just too bloody cranked out today to bring food home." He said it like it was normal, like everyone went a whole day without eating and didn't even think to ask or look for food.

"Okay, we're eating now." Minho said, jumping up to go look for food.

(Okay, So I'm reposting this becuase I have a error with the characters, it doesn't show the difference between the past characters and the future.

I have the next chapter half way finished, yay!))