"They got inside somehow. They're taking me to live with the other Cranks. It's for the best. Thanks for being my friends. Goodbye."
"Newt..." Thomas whispered. The pain in his voice was evident, but nothing compared to the hurt in Y/N's heart. She already knew that Newt was gone. If they went looking for their friend, they'd never find the Newt they were looking for. They'd never find the Newt the used to know, just a disturbing version of their friend, now with a diseased mind.
The Crank Palace was revolting. Things and people were rotting away right and left, and the thought of Newt being forced to live here made everyone sick. He of all people didn't deserve it.
"What kind of a name is Newt anyway?" One of the Cranks Thomas was trying to talk to snarled, causing Y/N to snap out of her thoughts. Her entire body tensed at the name, something Minho took notice to immediately. Y/N wanted to scream at the person— the Crank— the comment came from. She wanted to explain to them how good of a person Newt was, how many terrible things he'd been through, and how he didn't deserve this. But Minho was one step ahead, placing a firm hand on her shoulder, sending a glare which said 'don't.'
After a while of searching the Central Zone of the Palace, the guards who had gone searching for Newt came back with grim faces.
"Took some asking around, but I think we found your guy. Looks just like you described, and he turned toward us when we called his name. But..." The guards exchanged an uncomfortable glance.
"But what?" Minho pushed.
"He said—very pointedly, I might add—to tell you guys to get lost."
No one in the group was having it. They'd come this far, risked so many lives just to see him again. To try and save him. To bring him home. "Bullshit." Y/N muttered.
"Show us where he is." Minho demanded.
Wails came from every direction and the smells only got worse as the group walked through the Palace. Even though she walked with Minho and Thomas on either side of her, they offered no comfort. Deep down, she knew they wouldn't be leaving with Newt. They were running on a hope that didn't exist. The voices of Cranks got louder and nastier, the floor she kept her eyes glued on got dustier.
"I can see him in the back," Minho said, his face pinched with worry. "It's dark in there, but it's definitely him."
Y/N didn't want to look up. She didn't know how far gone he was at this point.
"Here goes nothing," Thomas said, making sure Y/N and Minho stuck close.
No more than ten feet away, Newt's voice finally came with a raucous sound that tore at Y/N's heart. "I told you bloody shanks to get lost!"
"We need to talk to you," Minho said as he moved a couple of feet closer.
"Don't come any closer," Newt answered. His voice was soft but full of menace. "Those thugs brought me here for a reason. They thought I was bloody Immune holed up in that shuck Berg. Imagine their surprise when they could tell I had the Flare eating my brain. Said they were doing their civic duty when they dumped me in this rat hole."
"Why do you think we're here, Newt? I'm sorry they brought you here. But we can break you out—it doesn't look like anyone gives a klunk who comes or goes." Thomas spoke up.
Newt grotesquely twisted around to face them. Clutched in his hands was a launcher.
"Whoa, there," Minho said, suddenly stepping to the side to reveal the small, frail girl hiding behind him. "Slim it nice and calm. There's no need to point a shuck launcher at our faces while we talk."
Newt dropped the launcher and his eyes fell stone cold at the sight of Y/N. "Get her out of here. Now."
"No, Newt!" Minho cried. "We risked our necks to come to this place and you're our friend and we're taking you home. You wanna whine and cry while you go crazy, that's fine. But you're gonna do it with us, not with these shuck Cranks."
Despite the girl being there, Newt jumped to his feet, readying the launcher in his hands. "I am a Crank, Minho! I am a Crank! Why can't you get that through your bloody head? If you had the Flare and knew what you were about to go through, would you want your friends to stand around and watch? Huh? Would you want that?" He was shouting by the time he finished, and was shaking more with each passing moment.
Newt's glare shifted to Thomas.
"And you, Tommy," the boy said, lowering his voice. "You've got a lot of nerve brining her here. A lot of bloody nerve."
Thomas felt guilt flooding his systems. He knew Newt never wanted Y/N to see him like this. Under a week ago, Newt had made Thomas promise to keep Y/N away once he started going mad. Started getting dangerous.
Y/N finally looked up and Newt's attention snapped, catching her eyes. He kept completely still as his heartbeat got louder in his ears. As the girl scanned his face, she hardly recognized him, all bloodied and bruised.
"Just... please. Please leave." He begged, tears brimming in his polluted eyes.
Newt turned back to Thomas. "As sincerely as I've ever asked for anything in my life, I want you to take her out of here right now. Im begging you to do this one thing for me."
After that, something inside of Newt changed. His face softened and his eyes cleared a little. "I don't expect you to understand, but I can't be with you guys anymore. It's gonna be hard enough for me now, and it'll make it worse if I know you have to witness it..." He began to stumble closer to the people he once considered his friends.
"Or worst of all, if I hurt you." He stepped in front of the girl, reaching out to grab her hand before pulling it back into himself with a wince. He knew he couldn't touch her. "So let's say our bloody goodbyes and then you can promise to remember me from the good old days."
Y/N furrowed her brows, trying to fight back the screams in her mind. She'd never forget the memories they shared from the moment she woke in the box to just a few days ago. But it pained her heart to know that this was the last memory she'd have of him. Remembering him from 'the good old days' would be nearly impossible now.
Y/N glued her eyes shut, hoping that when she opened them again she'd be on the Berg with Newt at her side, Crank or not.
"Letting go isn't easy, love. But I'm not coming back." He spoke quietly. Every last bit of humanity inside of him wanted to reach out and take her in his arms one last time but he knew he couldn't. It made every bone in his body ache with grief.
"Now get out of here! Do you understand me? Get out of here!" He shrieked, finally backing away from the girl. The feverish instability returned to Newt's eyes and voice. That was when Y/N realized Newt no longer existed. All she saw was a deconstructed mess of a human who no was no longer capable of love.
Thomas and Minho refused to budge. Y/N knew they had to leave and that there was no way Newt was going with them.
"Go," Newt said. "I asked nicely. Now I'm telling. This is hard enough. Go."
"Newt, let's go outside..." Minho pleaded.
"Go!" Newt stepped even closer and aimed more fiercely. "Get outof here!"
With one last glance, Y/N looked to Newt and could for just a split second see the sorrow in his eyes, his broken heart only making the Flare's invasion easier. A tear fell from his eyes and she pursed her lips, trying to see past the tears which where beginning to build in her own. Newt's entire body was trembling and his eyes had lost any hint of sanity now. He was losing it, completely.
"Let's go," Thomas said, the heartache in his voice all too apparent. "Come on."
Minho's shoulders slumped, and his eyes fell to the floor. "How did the world get so shucked?" The words barely came out, low and full of pain.
"I'm sorry," Newt said, and there were tears streaming down his face. "I'm... I'm going to shoot if you don't go. Now."
Thomas couldn't take it for one more second, turning on his heel and making his way towards the exit. Minho grabbed Y/N's hand and pulled her away. No one dared look back.
As Newt watched them disappear into the angry mob of Cranks, he locked onto the girls hair as it blew softly in the breeze. For a moment, the world seemed to freeze and his throat began to burn, heart beating painfully as he stared at her hand in Minho's. He was glad to know that she'd at least be cared for. But it would never be him. The life he'd hoped for was only something he could think of on sleepless nights as he awaited the loss of his mind. His home would never be with her, all because he wasn't immune like the rest of his friends.
He'd lost everything. His friends. His love. And his very own mind. He'd never hated his life as much as he did now.
Then, her silhouette disappeared. Never to be seen again.