Author's Note: Sorry for the late update! I was (and still am) distracted by my new Pokemon X, but I'll try to get the next chapter up in a few days' time :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, How to Train Your Dragon or Portal/Portal 2.

Hypothesis

Chapter 13: Escaping

/ Come on come on come on! /

Jack ran for his life, sprinting through the catwalks and jumping down flights of stairs as he followed Pitch wherever he was leading him.

/ Go! Go go go! I'm closing the doors! /

:: The irony is that you were almost at the last test. ::

/ Turrets! /

At the warning, he lunged to the side as several turrets were deployed from the ceiling and landed in front of him. They started to open fire and he ducked behind a large pillar for safety, already devising a plan to knock them down and get out of the area MIM had barricaded him in. There weren't any storage cubes he could use, so he had no choice but to sneak behind them and topple them over.

/ Keep moving! Just keep moving! /

:: I don't know why you even bother to try. Green is dead, because you killed him. ::

/ Don't listen to her! I've seen him, he's okay! /

:: Is that so? Where is he then? ::

/ Oh what? How stupid do you think I am? I'm not telling you so that you can finish him off! /

:: You don't know where he is. You don't even know if he's still alive. ::

/ There's the exit! We're almost out of here! /

Jack didn't have time to ask Pitch about Hiccup before the whole place started to rumble and shake. The catwalks trembled with force and heavy metallic beams fell from the ceiling as the pillars supporting the area started to crumble.

/ She's bringing the whole place down! Hurry! This way! /

There was a clear straight path to the lift in front of him and Jack put every ounce of energy into pumping his legs as hard as he could, frantically running towards his only chance of salvation.

/ Get in the lift! I'll meet you on the other side! /

He managed to make it in just as the catwalk he had been standing on collapsed, and he watched in horror as MIM literally crushed the room to pieces, using the walls to compress everything inside. To his relief, he was spared from witnessing the rest of the destruction as the lift shuddered and made its way up, taking him away to safety.

"I can't thank you enough," Jack said gratefully when he caught up to Pitch. "How did you survive, anyway?"

/ You'll never believe what happened! There I was, just lying there, you thought I was done for, but then a bird knocked me into one of the repair lines, sent me straight to one of the reassembly machines to get patched up. A bloody bird! Right? Couldn't believe it either. /

He nodded before looking away and biting his lip nervously. "You said… you said Hiccup was alive. Is it true?"

/ Yes, but you can't see him right now. /

"What? Why not?" Jack demanded. "He can help us take down MIM and get out of here!"

/ With MIM back in charge of the facility, we cannot risk leading her to his location. We're not out of the woods yet, but I can guarantee his safety only after you put me in control. /

Jack hated to admit it, but Pitch's reasoning made sense. Hiccup was within his grasp, except that there was no way he could reach him without MIM getting to him first. He was so close, yet so far, but he promised himself he would find Hiccup even if it was the last thing he did.

"Fine," he conceded with a sigh. "So what now?"

/ We are going to shut down her turret production line, turn off her neurotoxin, and then confront her. /

Pitch led him to the turret production center first, where the little white robots were manufactured and tested. The factory's control center housed the master turret as the template, and all Jack had to do was replace it with one of the faulty turrets (those things were a joke, seriously) and the production lines would take care of the rest by tossing out the live and dangerous ones which did not match the template.

Their next stop was the neurotoxin generator. Along the way, they came across several old exhibitions outside an abandoned office. The corridor was lined with little projects on display, somewhat resembling a science fair, and a banner was hung up proudly above the area.

/ Bring your son to work day. That did not end well. /

"No kidding."

/ And… forty potato batteries. Embarrassing. I realize they're children. Still: low hanging fruit. Barely science, really. /

The control room for the neurotoxin generator was just up ahead after a few more flights of stairs, and Jack made quick work of the tubes transporting the poison to the rest of the facility by using a laser to sever the connections, cutting off the supply. Pitch remained in the office behind him to monitor the neurotoxin levels.

/ Neurotoxin at zero percent! Yes! /

An alarm started to blare out of nowhere as the room started to shake, and Jack saw the large white tube containing the neurotoxin being crushed inwards from the low pressure.

[ Warning! Neurotoxin pressure has reached dangerously unlethal levels. ]

The sound of breaking glass reached his ears and Jack turned around to see the transparent walls of the office behind him crack and shatter. Inside, Pitch was desperately clinging onto his management rail as he struggled to avoid getting sucked into the large vent in the wall.

/ Come on! We can ride it straight to her! /

"What? Are you serious?" Jack screeched in shock, trying to make himself heard over the loud rush of air being swallowed by the dark hole as he hugged a pillar to prevent himself from getting dragged into the room.

/ Hurry! Get in! /

Jack gulped and braced himself before letting go, and he watched as Pitch followed him into the tunnel after he had made it in. Soon enough, they found themselves hitching a ride in one of the many tubes ferrying storage cubes around the facility and Jack couldn't help but let out an excited laugh. It felt as if they were on a rollercoaster, and while he knew they were heading towards the next (and hopefully last) confrontation with MIM, he allowed himself to enjoy the ride there.

/ This should take us right to her. I can't believe I'm finally doing this! We should be getting close. Ohh. I can't wait to see the look on her face. No neurotoxin, no turrets – she'll never know what hit her! /

An intersection came up ahead and to Jack's dismay, a train of storage cubes knocked Pitch into the adjacent tube, separating them. Jack was unable to resist the current flow and he could only watch as he and Pitch went in opposite directions.

/ Aggh! I'm going the wrong way! Get to her! I'll find you! /

Pitch was quickly whisked out of his sight and Jack found himself alone again.