Author's Note: Okay, wow, I seriously did not expect the recent reviews, comments and asks about whether I was planning to continue this (I was, but time and inspiration got away from me and my hard disk got wiped so I lost all my progress in the game, not to mention I'm in the middle of senior year in college, so...). I didn't think anyone even reads this anymore, so I was really surprised at all the encouraging messages. Thanks so much, you guys!

Here's the chapter that everybody was waiting for. I think the title should speak for itself :)

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

Hypothesis

Chapter 15: Reuniting

[ Welcome, gentlemen, to Aperture Science. Astronauts, war heroes, Olympians – you're here because we want the best, and you are it. So: Who is ready to make some science? ]

[ I am! ]

[ Now let me introduce myself. I'm Cress Joyson. I own the place. That eager voice you heard is the lovely Mandy, my assistant. She's the backbone of this facility. Pretty as a postcard, too. Sorry, fellas. She's married. To science. ]

If Jack thought the sections of the facility above were dilapidated, the ones down below looked as if multiple hurricanes had torn through them.

There were precious few lights giving him illumination to navigate his way through the dark and damp basement floor several miles below the surface. It had been a long, terrifying yet frustrating fall (MIM's quips about him being a moron to believe Pitch and his lies might have had something to do with that), and the only reason he was still alive was due to his long fall boots which saved him from splattering like an egg.

He was all alone now. Hiccup was most likely dead, Pitch had betrayed him, and MIM was nowhere to be seen when he finally stirred awake after hitting the ground. Jack had spent a good long while just lying down where he was, wondering if it was worth the trouble to get up and keep going. He could see no way out of this hellish nightmare he was trapped in, and he didn't know how much more he could take until his spirit finally broke for good. He had nearly given up once, but that was before Pitch had shown up just in time with the news that Hiccup was alive. Now, however…

It was the pre-recorded voice messages echoing throughout the area that spurred Jack to pick himself off the ground, retrieve his portal gun and start walking. At first he had hoped there were survivors still around, but a quick peek into the abandoned control rooms revealed that the messages had been programmed in a long time ago and activated to play when movement was detected in certain areas on the floor. Despite the confirmation that there was no one else around but him, the brazen tone of the male voice coming through the speakers helped to reassure him somewhat, and Jack found himself relying on the confidence practically oozing from his words to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

[ Alright, let's get started. This first test involves something the boys call 'repulsion gel'. You're not part of the control group, by the way. You get the gel. Last poor son of a gun got blue paint. Hahaha. All joking aside, that did happen – broke every bone in his legs. Tragic. But informative. Or so I'm told. ]

As they say, when at rock bottom, the only way you can go is up (in his case, literally). Jack made a beeline for the lifts, relieved to find that some of them were still operational. He slowly made his way to the upper floors, using his portal gun to get to higher ground and avoid the toxic sludge flooding certain levels.

There were large pipes lining the walls in some areas, containing the bright blue liquid Cress Joyson had called repulsion gel. It was thick like paint, but easy to wash off. The interesting thing was the fact that it made whatever surface it covered extremely bouncy. There was an open pipe sticking out from the ceiling dripping the gel all over the ground, and Jack had stepped on it experimentally to test if it was safe to walk on.

It turned out that walking was okay so long as he did it carefully. Running was a big no-no. The force his feet exerted on the gel-covered surface had sent him flying almost ten feet into the air when he had gotten impatient and tried to sprint through it. Still, the gel helped him to reach tall ledges where there were no portal surfaces nearby, and Jack quickly learnt to use it to his advantage.

As he ascended the floors, he soon found himself stepping into another abandoned office, but this time he was not alone.

:: Oh. Hi. ::

"MIM?" Jack called out in shock. He poked around the rooms, finally spotting the potato AI in a nest with – was that a crow pecking at it?

:: Say, you're good at murder. Could you – ow – murder this bird for me? ::

Laughing weakly, Jack shooed the crow away with a swift wave of his arm. No sooner did it fly out of sight than the whole place started to shake, rumbling with a dull roar which rang in Jack's ears. The white-haired teen grabbed at the edge of a desk to steady himself until all was still again.

:: Did you feel that? That idiot doesn't know what he's doing up there. This whole place is going to explode in a few hours if somebody doesn't disconnect him. I can't move. And unless you're planning to saw your own head off and wedge it into my old body, you're going to need me to replace him. We're at an impasse. So what do you say? You carry me up to him and put me back into my body, and I stop us from blowing up and let you go. ::

Jack frowned suspiciously, cautious about giving his trust after all that had happened. "How do I know you're not lying to me?"

:: This potato only generates 1.1 volts of electricity. I literally do not have the energy to lie to you. Even if I am lying, what do you have to lose? You're going to die either way. ::

Sighing in resignation, Jack had to admit MIM had a point. There was no other choice, but it didn't mean he had to like it. He took a moment to contemplate how he was going to carry a potato around, and then his gaze landed on his portal gun. With a spiteful smirk, he forcefully impaled the potato onto a shallow spike at the top of the gun with a sharp jab.

:: OW! You stabbed me! What is WRONG with you? ::

"Sorry!" Jack grinned, not sounding apologetic at all as he made his way out of the office and towards the next lift.

:: Hmph. I was going to tell you I had another surprise for you. A real good one this time. But now you're going to have to wait to find out what it is. ::

"Whatever."

[ The testing area's just up ahead. ]

:: Hold on, who – ? ::

[ Mandy, are the compensation vouchers ready? ]

:: Yes sir, Mr Joyson… :: / [ Yes sir, Mr Joyson. ]

Jack paused when MIM had reacted to Cress Joyson's voice, and he went absolutely still when she responded to it at the same time Mandy did, word for word.

:: Why did I just – Who is that? What the HELL is going on here? ::

"Don't ask me," Jack replied with a shrug, feeling just as confused as the AI sounded. MIM fell silent, probably to think about the recent development, leaving Jack to continue in silence.

The next few floors introduced two more types of gels, orange and white. The orange one was slick and slippery, lubricating whatever surface it covered. Despite it being hard to walk on, Jack quickly found that he could skate on it and get up to high speeds, enabling him to jump and cross greater distances. On the other hand, the white one could conduct portals, so Jack was able to shoot at surfaces where he originally could not.

It was tricky trying to make clever use of the three gels to navigate his way up, but he was making good progress nevertheless. With a goal in mind, Jack felt more assured as he kept going. Sure, there was always a chance that MIM would turn on him again if they managed to evict Pitch and put her back in her body, but at least he would die doing something instead of just waiting around for death.

Going through another door, Jack looked around to find himself in the middle of a wide shaft, almost ten feet in diameter. There were thick pipes and narrow ledges lining the walls, and he could spot another door somewhere near the top. Glancing down, he gulped at the sight of the bottomless black pit that awaited him. He'd had enough of falling in this lifetime, thank you very much. There were dull clanging sounds coming from below, rattling some of the pipes, and it seemed almost as if something was slowly making its way up. Not wanting to find out what it was, Jack hurriedly started climbing.

Everything was going smoothly until he was nearly at the end. The exit was just a few feet above him, and he had conveniently placed one portal above it and another opposite him. All it would take was one quick jump across, but an ill-timed tremor shaking the facility caused Jack to lose his footing as he leapt, throwing him off course.

"Shit!" he yelled in panic, stretching his free arm out as far as he could to reach the small ledge on the other side.

His fingers missed by inches, and Jack found himself plummeting into the dark depths below. He flailed, thrashing about to try and reach something, anything –

"Gotcha!"

– and then something grabbed onto his arm.

Jack was swung to the side and collided smack into the wall, but he ignored the pain and looked up sharply, gasping in shock.

A pair of familiar green eyes peered down at him, shining brightly with tears of relief.

"HICCUP?!"

:: Congratulations. You found the surprise. ::

Author's Note: Just wondering, did anyone catch that little Easter egg near the end of the second part of the interlude? It gave a hint as to what happened to Hiccup after the fire, though how he survived will be better explained in the next chapter.