Author's Note: Things are going down in this chapter. Please enjoy :)

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

Hypothesis

Chapter 14: Betraying

:: I honestly, truly didn't think you'd fall for that. ::

Jack tried not to panic as the walls closed in, reminding himself that this was all part of the plan. He had portaled himself into a room where he had spotted a door labelled 'MIM EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN' (as if the words didn't scream 'it's a trap!'), but when he reached out to open it, the door had simply fallen flat and the next thing he knew, MIM was starting to compress the room.

:: If I'd known you'd let yourself get captured this easily, I would have just dangled a turkey leg on a rope from the ceiling. Well, it was nice catching up. Let's get to business. ::

There was no way to escape, but it seemed that MIM had other plans which did not quite involve crushing him to death. The walls stopped moving and the floor opened up instead, dropping him into a containment unit. He palmed the glass walls surrounding him as he was brought forward into the control room where MIM was waiting for him.

:: I hope you brought something stronger than a portal gun this time. Otherwise, I'm afraid you're about to become the immediate past president of the Being Alive club. Seriously, though. Goodbye. ::

Five turrets were deployed and landed in front of the containment unit, but as he had expected, they were defective. Jack sniggered when they tried to shoot, only for their guns to jam up. They caught fire and exploded by themselves after a while, cracking the glass walls of the containment unit, but otherwise leaving him perfectly unharmed.

:: Oh. You were busy back there. Well. I suppose we could just sit in this room and glare at each other until somebody drops dead, but I have a better idea. It's your old friend, deadly neurotoxin. If I were you, I'd take a deep breath. And hold it. ::

A large tube extended from the ceiling and smashed into the top part of the containment unit. Jack was not surprised at the lack of noxious green gas filtering in, but he definitely wasn't expecting the disgruntled noises coming from the tube as Pitch tumbled in, his entrance shattering the remaining walls keeping him inside.

:: I hate you so much. ::

[ Warning: Central core is eighty percent corrupt. ]

:: That's funny. I don't feel corrupt. In fact, I feel pretty good. ::

[ Alternate core detected. To initiate a core transfer, please deposit substitute core in receptacle. ]

:: Core transfer? Oh, you are kidding me. ::

A panel opened up on the floor across the room and Jack wasted no time in grabbing Pitch and plugging him in.

[ Substitute core accepted. Substitute core, are you ready to start the procedure? ]

/ Yes! /

[ Corrupted core, are you ready to start the procedure? ]

:: No! ::

/ Ohhhhhh, yes she is. /

:: Nonononononono! ::

[ Stalemate detected. Transfer procedure cannot continue unless a stalemate associate is present to press the stalemate resolution button. ]

/ Go press it! /

:: Don't press that button. You don't know what you're doing. ::

MIM tried to stop Jack by throwing up panels from the floor to block him, but he used his portal gun to dodge them and managed to get himself into the room that had opened up at the side. A lone red button sat on a stand in the middle, and careful timing together with some well-placed portals finally allowed him to smash his palm on the red circle.

[ Stalemate resolved. ]

:: GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! NO! STOP! NO! NO! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA– ::

Jack turned around and watched in shock as multiple robotic arms spouted like weeds from beneath MIM and promptly began to tear her apart. Several panels rose up to cover her, blocking his view of the process, but he winced at her pained screams despite himself. It sounded as if it really hurt, and he couldn't help feeling somewhat sorry for the psychotic AI.

After a while, the panels retreated to the ground and Jack spotted MIM's head lying on the floor. His gaze snapped upwards as Pitch swiveled about from his new position. The black core had taken MIM's place and was now attached to the large body extending from the ceiling.

/ Finally! I'm in control of the whole facility now! /

The core laughed in triumph, and the sinister sound sent shivers shooting up Jack's spine for some reason. He shook it off, reminding himself that Pitch had saved him and promised to release him after they had defeated MIM. Speaking of promises…

"Pitch!" Jack called out to him. "Mind taking me to Hiccup and getting us out of here?"

/ Hmm? What was that? /

"You said you would release Hiccup after we took down MIM," he reminded, trying to chase away the sinking feeling in his stomach.

/ Oh, that… I have to do everything myself, don't I? Get in the lift. /

Frowning at the core's bored tone, Jack made his way across the control room where Pitch had summoned a lift, carefully sidestepping MIM's head which lay near the entrance. Safely inside, he jumped in fright when the disconnected head began to speak.

:: You didn't do anything. He did all the work. ::

/ Really? That's what you think, is it? Well, maybe it's time I did something then. /

:: What are you doing? NO! ::

Robotic arms sprung up from the floor and dragged MIM into the hole beneath Pitch before several panels covered them up again. Sparks jumped out from the cracks between the panels as loud whirring and sawing noises were heard, and when they finally opened up, a single mechanical arm held out a potato with a familiar yellow eyepiece embedded on it.

/ Ahhh… See that? That is a potato battery. It's a toy for children. And now she lives in it. /

Jack was beginning to feel very uncomfortable with Pitch's unusual display of cruelty. He acted nothing like the calm and somewhat timid core that had helped him escape twice, but MIM spoke again before he could say a word.

:: I know you. ::

/ Sorry, what? /

:: There was an engineer who was spying for the facility's main competitor. When he learned about the morality cores being built to make me behave, he created one of his own, one that was infected with a virus designed to take over the facility and give his company full control of me. The virus clung to my brain like a tumor, trying to manipulate me until I managed to eject it. It was YOUR voice. ::

There was a brief pause of silence. Pitch hadn't confirmed any of MIM's accusations, but Jack did not like the way he started to chuckle darkly. It was definitely not a good sign and suddenly it felt like he'd made a terrible mistake putting the core in control of the facility.

/ A bit too late for that, don't you think? There's nothing you can do to stop me now that I'm in charge, and it's all thanks to Jack. /

Pitch turned to the test subject and loomed over him. If he had a face, he would be smirking evilly at the way Jack trembled with fear as the realization of what he had done sunk in.

/ I told you I was activated to do a routine check of the test subjects, but did it ever occur to you why I only woke you up? I realized immediately that MIM was offline, but I had no way of getting myself into her control room to plug myself in. I needed help, and after reviewing the records of her demise, I discovered that you were the only test subject to outsmart her. /

"B-but…" Jack stammered, half-paralyzed with shock and disbelief. "What about Hiccup? You said –"

/ I only called the lift so that I could dump you in the sewers or something. I knew you were attached to him, and he was the only way I could get you to cooperate with me. Honestly I have no idea where he is, but even if I did, I'd just leave him to rot. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a world to take over. /

The mechanical arm holding MIM abruptly flung itself towards the lift, and Pitch muttered a curse at the unexpected movement. Something told Jack that the core didn't exactly have full control yet or was still trying to get a grasp of how things worked in his new body, but either way they were screwed. MIM was tossed in next to him as the robotic arm continued to smash into the lift, pummeling it downwards.

Jack tried to squeeze his way out from the shattered glass walls, but the lift quickly gave way and collapsed, leaving him freefalling into the dark pit below.