Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mr. Puzzles groaned as he laid in his padded cell, trying and failing to hold back the surge of nausea that was building up in his throat. Once it got to a point of no return, he bolted to the toilet in the corner and puked the prison slob out of his stomach. Once he was done he spit into the toilet bowl one last time and collapsed on the floor.

It had been almost three months since these symptoms started to appear, and it was driving him up a wall. First it was the vomiting in the early morning and late at night, earning him a good scolding from the guards for keeping the other prisoners up. He was more exhausted than usual, trailing behind the other prisoners in activities and sitting out on the ones that are more physical. But the most strange and mortifying symptom of all was the weight gain. Despite all the vomiting, his body was still able to gain weight that went to his stomach. Now if one were to see him without his prison uniform on, they would be able to see a small noticeable bump on his usual thin figure.

Because of these strange symptoms, he wasn’t left any time to figure out a potential escape plan to get out and get his revenge on SMG4 and his crew for ruining his life. There was a news report on an assassin being on the lose, but Mr. Puzzles was too sick to pay attention to what exactly was being said. Crawling away from the toilet after being sure he wouldn’t get sick again, he gets into a comfortable position as he recalled what some of the guards talked about during lunch.

“Hey, did you hear that the one prisoner, Mr. Puzzles was it? Was on death row?”

“Yeah, Hall Monitor has been getting things ready for him to use the Death Cube on the fucker.”

“Yeesh, the Death Cube? His crimes really warrant THAT?”

“Believe me, this prisoner has been nothing but trouble. He brainwashed people and took over Disney, I even heard he was responsible for the demise of One Shot Wren.”

“Well, I for one am glad he’s getting the Death Cube.”

“A fitting punishment for a villain like him.”

The Death Cube…

He wasn’t even aware of its existence until he heard those guards. To think this is where it all ends for him… Sick to his stomach and waiting to die with no friends whatsoever. He started to sob, failing to hear his cell open and someone coming inside.

“You have a phone call!”

Mr. Puzzles sat up, wiping away the tears as to not show vulnerability as he saw it was only Swag.

“Can’t you see I’m possibly not in the mood to talk to anyone. I’m sure who’s on the other side is probably joking.”

“Oh but you’ll want to hear this Prisoner boy, it involves your death sentence possibly getting changed.”

Mr. Puzzles stood back up at fast speed, wondering if this was some kind of sick joke they were playing. He was sure that on the other end was a voice ready to mock him, but at least he’ll be ready to lash out if it is. Taking the phone, he holds it up to his non-existent ear and replies.

“Who is this?”

“Uh… Hi Mr. Puzzles…”

That voice… hearing it again after months of being here almost made him drop the phone. His already queasy stomach lurched but was able to hold back the sudden burp of bile from escaping. He moved the phone away as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself as the guard left to give him some form of privacy. After slapping himself and adjusting his head, he brings the phone back.

“WHY HELLO! What a pleasant surprise! To what do I owe the pleasure…”

He trailed off, debating if he should even say friend. Could he even call her that after all he’s done to hurt her? He figured not as he decided to bite his tongue and give Meggy the chance to speak.

“I… saw your sentencing on TV. This Death Cube… An ultimate tool of destruction meant to torture you until your last breath. Nobody deserves this… Which is why I’m considering lawyering up to defend you.”

He gasped excitedly, thinking this was a dream come true until she spoke again.

“This doesn’t change anything! This is ONLY to get you out of the Death Cube penalty… NOT to set you free! I’m only considering this because…” There was a pause for a moment. “Because Leggy… Believes in you.”

Leggy…

Puzzles’ heart ached from hearing that name again, his eyes going to the fake Leggy 2.0 he made and frowned.

“BUT…” Meggy continued. “I need proof you changed! I won’t defend you if you’re still the same old villain!”

This had to be a dream, a prank of sorts. There was no way this was being offered to him after all he’s done. Maybe it was the strange sickness or the fear of the Death Cube, but he chose to believe this was real and responded to the other end.

“Of… Of course! How about you come visit me here and we can discuss the details of how we can make this work. It’ll be… nice? To see you again? And doing this over the phone wouldn’t really make things possible.”

“I supposed… you’re right. I’ll be over there tomorrow afternoon, please don’t make me regret this.”

Click

Meggy hung up, the call ending with a long beep being heard as he felt a surge of overwhelming emotions burst at the seams. He wasn’t sure if he was sad or happy, but for now he just wanted to get it all out so he wouldn’t be a complete mess for tomorrow when he sees Meggy again.

~~~

The next day, Meggy showed up at the time she promised to come by. She was dressed in her lawyer outfit as she fixed her glasses and came into the prison. She walked up to the front desk and spoke.

“Hello, excuse me. I’m here to meet with a prisoner here, by the name Mr. Puzzles.”

The receptionist flipped through some papers and nodded.

“Third door to the right for the visitation room, can’t miss it.”

Seeing as how the receptionist didn’t even bother to look at her, Meggy walked in the direction she was given and entered the blue door with the words “visitation room” on it. Inside was a standard visitation room of a wall covered in windows and mini walls in between the seats so no one would be able to peak. She wondered if Puzzles was behind one of those windows waiting for her until a guard came up to her with both his arms behind his back professionally.

“I take it you’re the lawyer for Mr. Puzzles?”

“Yes, that’s me. Ms. Meggy Spletzer.” She replied, trying to sound confident and not nervous.

“Follow me, the prisoner is right in here.”

The guard takes her to a secluded room with only a table and two chairs, sitting in one of them was Mr. Puzzles. He still looked the same aside from the rust on his tv head, he was in the prisoner uniform that strangely looked a bit too snug around the stomach area. His wrists and ankles were chained in cuffs, possibly to keep him from attacking her as prison protocol. After all, he is considered one of the more dangerous prisoners here, so it makes sense he would be treated a bit differently than the others living here.

When Mr. Puzzles saw Meggy come in the room, his face lit up with genuine joy. He didn’t realize how much he wanted to see her again after so long, almost getting up to hug her… but the cuffs prevented that happening as the young woman took her seat from across the table.

“Le-Meggy! It’s actually… nice to see you again.” He said, gripping the table as she only stared at him indifferently.

“I wish I could say the same, but we got more important matters to discuss. First off, the Death Cube.” She opens the suitcase she brought with her and takes out some papers regarding the Death Cube. “We’re gonna need some strong evidence and clear cut statements if we’re going to get you out of the Death Cube penalty. It’s said the only way we could get you out is-”

As Meggy went on about the Death Cube, Puzzles started to space out from the sudden ache and hardening he was feeling in his stomach again. He moved his hands down to rub his abdomen, the chains of the cuffs clinging with noise as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Luckily Meggy hadn't noticed so he had to pretend he was following along.

“... I believe if we can get the court to see that you were mentally unwell during the time you committed those crimes, they might be able to overrule the penalty and shorten it to just life in-”

She looked up to see if Puzzles was listening to what she was saying, noticing how… nauseous he looked like he was trying to keep himself from throwing up as he struggled to even use his voice.

“Do… do go on dear M-Meggy, don’t let me s-stop you…” He muttered, shutting his eyes to focus.

“Hey, are you okay? You’re not looking too good.” Meggy asked, couldn’t help but worry that something might be wrong.

“Oh nothing… just feeling a bit… under the weather is all. Nothing to- oh no…”

Suddenly he could feel the bile building up, clamping his hands to his mouth as he fell from the chair and to his knees. Meggy panicked, moving next to him as she shouted.

“We need a trashcan now!”

One guard was able to get them one just in time as Mr. Puzzles threw up his breakfast from the morning, the young woman rubbed his back to soothe him as he heaved with every breath. The trashcan itself was halfway full with vomit, the tv host pushing it away and breathing out a sigh of relief.

“Has it passed?” Meggy asked, seeing him nod.

“Yeah… My apologies dear Meggy. These past months I’ve been feeling awfully dreadful. From vomiting, to fatigue, and a sudden… gain to my figure.” He admitted the last one like he was embarrassed. “I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with me or if it’s just dread from this Death Cube.”

As he listed off his symptoms, Meggy was slowly putting the pieces together on what could be wrong with him. Throwing up, fatigue, and weight gain… it almost sounded like he was…

Wanting to be extra sure, she placed a hand on the lump that was slightly poking out of his prison uniform and felt around it. Mr. Puzzles squeaked in surprise, caught off guard by what she was doing.

“H-Hey! What’re you-!?”

“Hold on a second!”

She could feel under the fabrics that his stomach was more firm than soft, starting below his ribcage and almost protruding past his waistline. With these clues and discoveries in mind, Meggy figured out what was wrong with him as she gaped.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier!?” She asked frantically.

“About what!?” Mr. Puzzles asked in response, wondering what she meant.

“That you’re pregnant!”

Mr. Puzzles was shocked to hear that, his hands going to his stomach as he reeled in what she said.

“... Fuck.”

Chapter Text

Neither Meggy or Puzzles knew how long they sat in that room, trying to make sense of what they recently discovered. Mr. Puzzles is with child, three months if what he said about being sick was true. And now they were trying to figure what this could mean. Puzzles was especially freaked out about this because he didn’t know this entire time. He never thought he could get pregnant, he was on T! But then again, when was the last time he had his shot before or during his time in prison…?

“Puzzles?” He heard Meggy ask, getting his attention. “... I know this must be so much for you to learn, it’s a shock to me too. But I have to ask… who is the father?”

Mr. Puzzles took in a breath through his mouth, having forgotten that part of getting pregnant. Somebody had to have done… that with him in order for this to happen. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t remember who. He looks at her with uncertainty and fear.

“I… I don’t remember.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I just… can’t remember. I’m sure if I were to end up pregnant I would’ve remembered who did it to me.”

Meggy couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth or not, but didn’t want to pressure him as she recalled something she read about death row before coming here.

“You know… if the court were to discover this pregnancy, you’ll be temporarily taken off of going to the Death Cube. That way we can find a way to free you from it permanently.”

Mr. Puzzles gave her a look, as if what she said was crazy.

“… Who said I was going to keep it?”

“Huh?”

“You think I WANT to have a child?! Much less in prison!? This… this wasn’t supposed to happen at all! I’m a guy! I left that part of me behind! I can’t go through with this! Even if… even if…”

He was reduced to a panting mess, grasping at his chest as the world started to spin around him. The young woman saw he was having a panic attack and called out to him, but all he heard was muffled. Eventually he started to hear her better as he registered the words “breathe.” And “focus on me.”

Slowly, he lifted his head to focus on her face, following a breathing pattern she was doing until the world stopped spinning and his chest felt less tight. Letting out a breath, he heard her speak again.

“So… you don’t want to keep it?”

“… No.”

Meggy nodded, understanding how stressful this was to him.

“Okay, okay. If we can’t use the pregnancy, then I’m sure we can come up with something else. Luckily the trial is next week, so we should be able to come up with a case.”

Mr. Puzzles nodded, seeing her get up and leave as he was taken back to his cell.

~~~

The tv host wasn’t sure how long he’s been laying there in his cell, still reeling in the news that there’s a bab- a fetus growing inside him. Surely it shouldn’t be too late for him to get rid of it, maybe tomorrow he can ask one of the prisoners for some drugs and dispose of it that way.

… But why does thinking that made him feel guilty? Was it his conscience trying to lead him to a method that would be more humane, like an actual abortion. But the only way he could get that is if he can be taken off death row, and if they fail then it won’t matter since he’ll be dead. No matter how hard he tried to come up with a solution, he would decide against it. He doesn’t want this fetus, why is this eating away at him?

As he pondered on this, his hand started to subconsciously rub his stomach. It strangely provided a form of comfort for him feeling the fetus being there, and relaxed his body for the first time in a while. Even if he wasn’t going to go through with the pregnancy, he wasn’t against the idea of becoming a parent. Even though he hasn’t had good experience with kids before, he really wants to prove to himself that he could be a better father than his own dad ever was. He would accept them and whatever they want to be, he would make them feel loved and supported, he would most certainly not criticize them for every little thing they do.

Surely he and Meggy can come up with something for the trial, he starts to fall asleep as his screen shuts off, his hand never leaving his belly.

~~~

The day of the trial left Puzzles a bubbling mass of anxiety.

He and Meggy spent the week discussing what they could say to prove a case that Puzzles is capable of change and isn’t worthy of the Death Cube, coming up with a few points in the process. But he wondered if they would even be enough to save him, or if the court would even care. His hand moved down to his swollen middle and rubbed it slightly, this slowly becoming a way of calming down as the week passed. He tried to keep it private to only him and Meggy since he planned on getting rid of it, but overtime, the fetus’ company was starting to become more… welcomed? He wasn’t sure how to put it, but he already started to imagine what this fetus could look like and how they would be.

He realized what he was doing and took his hand off his stomach, sighing as he saw Meggy coming in the room.

“Hey Puzzles, are you ready for today?”

“No… but I know I don’t have a choice.”

“… I can’t promise I’ll be able to get you out of this, but one thing I can promise is that I will fight tooth and nail to save you.”

Mr. Puzzles teared up, nodding as he and Meggy were finally allowed to enter the courtroom. Once everyone was seated the judge banged his mallet on the desk.

“Court is now in session! Mr. Puzzles.” The tv host stood up upon hearing his name. “You were scheduled to be sent to the Death Cube to pay for all your crimes, but Miss Spletzer here has vouched to defend and remove you from the Death Cube sentence. How do you plead?”

“... Not guilty.” He muttered nervously.

“Not guilty? Well let’s look over the crimes you committed shall we?” The prosecutor known as Miles Edgeworth asked, bringing out a projector to show the court his evidence.

The screen turns on to his Puzzlevision shows being broadcasted, SMG4 and his crew being moved around like toys in his grasp.

“You have kidnapped a group of people and forced them into your shows without consent.” The screen switches to a different one. “Then you proceed to murder MICKEY MOUSE and take over Disney, turning it into Puzzlepark and kidnapping those same people to join your little circus act. And to finish off, you destroyed the park.”

The screen turned off, everyone whispering and talking to each other as Puzzles looked down in guilt. He forgot how painful it was to remember his past actions, especially in front of a crowd of strangers. Miles wasn’t done though as he continued to speak.

“Tell me, defender, how in what way could this guy be not guilty for anything he did?”

Meggy didn’t falter, just standing up and adjusting her glasses as she looked at Miles.

“Let me ask this. Did he do those things? Absolutely, and he should be held accountable. But there’s also this layer that most people seem to forget.”

“And what would that be?” The judge asked.

“He wasn’t mentally sound when committing those crimes. He was driven to insanity by loneliness and people pushing him away, feeling like there was no alternative than by force. From what I could learn and gather, he had a rather poor home life with an abusive father… his mother passed away when he was small.” Meggy said sadly, seeing the look of sadness on Puzzles at the mention of his mother.

“But giving him the Death Cube sentence is a bit too harsh don’t you think? I believe with some therapy and counseling, he could be a little more clear in the head. Because think about it, can you really say he’s bad if he was never given the help he needed?”

The jury talked among each other as Meggy gave Puzzles a reassuring smile, it calmed his nerves to know they might have a fighting chance if they played their cards right. But that hope was quickly dashed away when Miles spoke again.

“Honestly your Honor, how could something such as the prisoner suffering mental illness be an exception? Isn’t that all the more reason to execute him if he’s already committed those crimes? He’s beyond help at this point and simple therapy won’t be enough. By what she’s saying, we should be bailing ALL prisoners with a mental illness out of death row!”

“Objection! You’re putting words in my mouth!”

“But it’s the truth. This Mr. Puzzles fellow made his choices, and has to deal with the consequences. Mental illness or not.”

The jury talked among themselves, going back and forth on who to side with as Puzzles started to panic again, his hand moved down to his stomach as if to hide it. At this rate they were going to lose and the life of the fetus immediately came to mind. He started to breathe heavily, all the voices around him going mute as he opened his mouth.

“... You can’t.” He said suddenly, the attention being on him now. “I can’t go to the Death Cube… Not while I’m like this.”

“Like what?” Miles questioned.

“This baby… it hasn’t done anything wrong. It doesn’t deserve to be on death row. You can’t… YOU CAN’T KILL IT!”

He was hyperventilating by now, Meggy going to his side and helping him relegate his breathing. The courtroom was silent by that revelation, even Miles was shocked as the Judge waited for Puzzles to calm down enough to talk again.

“Well… that certainly changes things. As our rules and protocols call for, we can’t put prisoners through the Death Cube if they’re expecting. So we WILL have to take Mr. Puzzles off Death Row.”

“You will?” Meggy asked hopefully.

“Tell me Mr. Puzzles, how far along are you?”

“Uhh… Three months if I’m correct.”

“Then let me offer a proposition that’ll satisfy both sides.” The judge slams the hammer down. “For the remaining six months, we’ll allow Puzzles time to prove he can change by checking up on him to see how he’s doing. And if he does show signs of changing for the better, he’ll be taken off of Death Row. But if not, we will wait until the baby is born and place him back. Are we clear?”

The two looked at the judge and at each other, knowing that this is as good as they’re gonna get. They nodded.

“Of course! But on one condition. In order to see him change and provide him a better place to stay than a prison cell for his pregnancy, I request to let him stay with me for the time being.”

“Meggy?”

“... I suppose I can allow that. Court is adjourned! Don’t make us regret this decision.”

Everyone had gotten up and left the courtroom, Meggy and Puzzles being the only two there as the young woman looked at him curiously.

“I thought you didn’t want to bring it up? What changed your mind?” She asked.

“I don’t know… Just the thought of having this baby go through death row made me lose it. I thought I didn’t want it but… I think I do want it?” Mr. Puzzles confessed, rubbing his belly.

He thought he didn’t want it, he thought he could just abort it… but the thought of the fet-baby in danger ignited something in him. He didn’t want anything happening to them and he just couldn’t selfishly keep quiet about it any longer. It was wrong of him to want to keep it a secret, both for the trial and for ever wanting to get rid of it. He chalked all this up to parental instincts just now kicking in as he smiled softly.

“Yes… I do want to keep it.”

Meggy returned the smile, placing her hand on his where it rests on the small bump.

“I’m very proud of you, that shows you really have changed. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

The two walk out of the courtroom together so Mr. Puzzles can pack his things and leave. He wasn’t going to waste this chance, he was going to turn his life around.

For his baby.

Chapter Text

Mr. Puzzles hunched over to fit through the doorway to Meggy’s house, suitcase in hand of what little belongings he had. He was wearing his regular clothes that still fit him, even though it made the baby bump more visible than the prisoner uniform. He looked around to see the place he was going to be staying in for the time being of his “Parole” so to speak. He took a seat on the couch as Meggy walked to be in front of him with her arms crossed.

“Alright, if we’re going to make this work, we’ll need to set a few ground rules.” She started. “First, you are NOT to make trouble! Just because you’re free from prison doesn’t mean you can just go and do whatever you want now.”

“Dulely noted. Besides, it’s not like I can do it now what with this little one inside me.” Mr. Puzzles replied, placing a hand over his stomach.

“Two. You are to go to ultrasound appointments to make sure the baby’s healthy, since you’ve gone through three months without any proper care right?”

“Yeah, I tried telling one of the guards to let me see the correctional physician of the prison when it started in the first week of me being sick… but they just shrugged it off as me having a stomach bug.”

Meggy’s eyes widened in shock, realizing just how awful it was for him for that period of his pregnancy. As if the assault wasn’t enough.

“I see… I didn’t think the place treated you that badly.” Meggy said, taking a seat next to the tv host.

“You and the others couldn’t have known. Besides… I kind of deserved the treatment for how awful I’ve been, especially towards you.”

“No you don’t!” Meggy suddenly shouted. “Sure you did some terrible things! But that doesn’t mean you deserved to be hurt! Especially if you’re expecting!”

“Meggy…”

It honestly surprised the tv host to see her say that, truly thinking she hated him. Sure she lawyered up to defend him and came up with the condition of him staying with her to keep an eye on him, but to actually hear her say he didn’t deserve to be hurt proved otherwise. It caused him to burst into tears and start sobbing as he moved his hand to wipe away the incoming.

“Oh… Oh Meggy… Why am I crying so much…? I’m happy but… also sad…? I don’t… Oh god…” He wept, leaning onto the young woman as she awkwardly hugged him and allowed him to cry in her hair.

“There there, it’s just mood swings kicking in. It’s completely normal Puzzles, just let it all out…”

As Puzzles started to calm down, Meggy knew these were going to be a long six months.

~TRIGGER WARNING~

A lone guard walked down the long halls of the prison, looking at the numbers and prisoners inside. He was on his way to a specific cell as he used his ID badge on the scanner and opened the padded cell. There, he saw Mr. Puzzles having tea with Leggy 2.0 in the middle, looking up to see the guard coming in.

The guard was a young man with a decent build to his body, short blonde hair poking out of his prison hat and a stubble on his chin as he closed the door behind him. Mr. Puzzles wondered why this guard was here, he hasn’t caused any trouble as of late and it was way too early for him to be a guard to deliver his dinner as he stood up.

“Hello, you must be this “Mr. Puzzles” I’ve heard so much about. The guards talk about you a lot and I wanted to come see the man himself.”

At first Puzzles was a little touched to have a fan, his overconfidence shining through as he straightened up.

“Well of course it’s me! I also made some spectacular shows and movies for television! Here for an autograph?”

“No.” The guard said blankly. “It’s about what you’ve done… All the horrible things you did, the torture you probably gave those you captured, you really are a horrible person.”

The confidence Puzzles had before melted like ice, taking a step back as the air suddenly grew uneasy… and he wasn’t sure why.

“Is… that why you came here? To tell me that personally?”

The guard shook his head, the once neutral friendly looking face morphed into that of sadism and intent to harm.

“No, I’ve come for much more, to give you the punishment this prison is delaying you. But I can’t do it with you fully mobile now can we?”

With fast movements, the guard took out a syringe and plunged the needle into his neck. Mr. Puzzles cried out in pain, trying to push the guard away but his motor skills were already failing him. His head started to spin, his insides churning as he fell to the floor with a soft thump. His mind was swimming, dazed and unable to yell for help when he saw a shadow moving over him. He knew it was the guard as he moved to place Puzzles in a more “suitable” position.

The tv host felt the guard moving him onto his back, his arms being pinned down by his wrists… and his legs spreading open. Even though he was out of it from whatever was in the syringe, he partially knew what the guard was planning to do as he squirmed and tried moving to prevent this from happening. The guard grunted, pulling out two pairs of handcuffs and placing them on his wrists and ankles. Once he made sure Puzzles wouldn’t be moving, he grabbed the collar of his prison uniform and pulled him up to his face.

“There’s no use in fighting it, this is what you deserve. Now be a good prisoner and don’t move.”

He let go as he went to work removing his pants, the padded prison cell being filled with all kinds of noises… and none of them good.

~~~

Mr. Puzzles screamed as he woke up, panting as his hand immediately went to his swollen belly to make sure his child was still there. Tears streamed down his face as he realized what that dream he had was.

That was the man who impregnated him…

The one who violated him as a sick form of “punishment” for being a criminal…

The one who drugged him with an unknown substance that made him immobile and forget…

He remembered it all so clearly now. The rough hands holding his wrists down that was then used to grip his waist tightly, the way he felt pain in his lower regions every time that guard thrusted into him, the way the metal of the handcuffs dug into his skin and left bruises and even drew blood. By the time it was finally done, he was left there… all alone with no one to cry to.

Just as he started to cry, the door to his bedroom opened with a soft creak.

“Puzzles? What’s wrong? I heard screaming and came to check on you.” Meggy asked groggily, dressed in orange squid pajamas.

Mr. Puzzles looked up to see her at the doorway, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes while her hair was a complete mess. It was seeing her, feeling the bed he was in, that his mind caught up that he wasn’t back in prison… in his cell with that cursed guard. He was out, with child and with the one person who still had faith in him.

Instead of replying, he broke down crying as Meggy straightened up from her sleep entirely. She walked over to the bed and gently placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

“Hey, hey it’s okay… was it a nightmare you had?”

He managed to calm down enough to simple hiccups as he looked at her, debating if he should tell her or not. It was already late as is, and the last thing he wanted to do was cause Meggy any more problems… but surely something like this NEEDED to be told, and he was too afraid of going back to sleep in case the memory came back. Sniffling, he prepared himself to tell her.

“No, even worse… I now remember who the father is.”

Meggy’s eyes widened in shock, not expecting to hear that at all.

“It was a guard… he came into my cell and he… he…” He couldn’t get the word out, no matter how hard he tried as it was too painful to say.

But the young woman knew what he was trying to say, moving to hug him as he held on tight.

“He injected something into me… so I couldn’t fight back. The memory is still blurry, but I remember most of it… But…” he looked down at his stomach and rubbed it. “That doesn’t mean I now hate the baby or anything, I still care for it. And what matters now is that I’m far away from that stupid guard.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that, tomorrow I’ll inform the prison about it so he can face consequences. Let’s go back to sleep.”

Mr. Puzzles thought she would head back to her room, but instead moved to be in bed next to him as he grew flustered.

“M-Meggy? What’re you doing?”

“You think I’m going back to my room? It wouldn’t be right to leave you after having a nightmare that shook you up that bad. I’m sleeping in here with you for the rest of the night, no objections.”

The tv host wasn’t used to sharing beds with another person before, feeling awfully awkward about it. But as he laid back down to go back to sleep, the sight of seeing Meggy’s hand resting on his belly warmed his heart. He contentedly sighed as he fell asleep.

There were no more nightmares for the rest of the night.

Chapter Text

As his stay with Meggy went on, the place was starting to feel more like home.

She allowed him to decorate with an occasional movie poster or movie knick-knack, it helped add a bit of character to the house that was once empty. Mr. Puzzles himself has been behaving so far as she’s considered, always cleaning up his messes and helping whenever he could… as much of a pregnant person can help.

Meggy also made true of her promise of reporting the guard for what he did to Puzzles, even though it was Swag on the other side, he said they’ll look into the matter and deal out the proper consequences. She hopes they will… for Puzzles sake.

Speaking of Puzzles, today was his first official ultrasound.

Since he hasn’t had a proper checkup yet, now was a better time than any to make sure the baby was healthy and that nothing bad was going on. Both Meggy and Mr. Puzzles sat patiently in the waiting room of the clinic they were at, waiting for his name to be called. There were a few other pregnant women in the waiting room as well as a few of them were staring at Mr. Puzzles for being a guy. At first they thought the girl with ginger hair was pregnant until they noticed the tv host’s belly being visible, and the stares were making him uncomfortable.

“Oh look at that! I suppose I should be heading to the bathroom!” Mr. Puzzles said suddenly, looking around.

“Puzzles! They should be calling for us any moment now and you know you can’t use the bathroom right before an ultrasound!” Meggy said in exasperation, pulling him back down to his chair.

He sighs and looks down. “I’m sorry, I’m just not comfortable with these people staring at me.”

Just then a nurse came into the room and looked at her clipboard.

“Is there a Mr. Puzzles here?”

“Right here!”

Getting up as quickly as he could, he briskly walked past her away from the prying eyes as Meggy gave an apologetic smile.

“That’s us…”

They followed the nurse to a room with Puzzles laying back on a medical examination bed with Meggy next to him as he held his stomach. After a few minutes of waiting a green humanoid doctor with a sprout poking out her darker green hair came into the room, smiling warmly as she looked through her clipboard.

“Why hello there Mr. Puzzles, my name is Doctor Ivy and I’ll be your primary obstetrician for your pregnancy.” Doctor Ivy introduced herself, placing the clipboard down on the desk. “So your friend Meggy here told me you’ve been pregnant for three months, is that true?”

“Yes, at least from my estimation of when I started feeling sick.” Mr Puzzles replied, seeing her lift his shirt up to do a physical exam on his belly.

“I see. Have you been feeling weird or anything hurt? Like pain in your pelvic area or stomach and back?” She asked another question, palpating his stomach to feel the baby’s position.

“None… other than the morning sickness.”

Doctor Ivy giggled, moving back a bit. “Well from what I can tell from the physical exam the baby is in its proper position. Your belly is the expected size for three months, but there’s still one more thing we need to do for this exam. The ultrasound.”

She moved in a rhythm like she has done this many times before, moving with such grace as she gathered everything she needed. She placed a towel right below his belly, lifting his shirt up a bit more to get more skin exposed for the ultrasound. She then moved a monitor next to the bed as she grabbed a wand and squirt bottle full of a clear gel liquid.

“Now this may be a bit cold, so brace yourself.” The doctor warned as she brought the squirt bottle close.

Once the gel made contact, the tv host shivered a bit. Meggy placed a hand on his, letting him grasp it in comfort as Doctor Ivy brought the wand and spread it around a bit. After a moment of silence, Ivy showed them the screen of what’s inside Mr. Puzzles womb.

“And there’s your baby!” She said excitedly, pointing at the screen. “You see there? That’s their head, and that’s the body… And from what I can gather there’s only one…”

As she listed off what they were seeing, Puzzles couldn’t help but tear up a bit from actually seeing his baby for the first time. There they were, squirming a bit even though he couldn’t feel it yet. He wanted so badly to hold his belly and talk to the baby about just anything, but couldn’t because of the ultrasound and cold gel.

“Would you like to hear its heartbeat?”

“Heartbeat?” Puzzles questioned.

“We would love to.” Meggy replied in his place, knowing this is something he would definitely want to hear.

Without another word, Doctor Ivy places a doppler on his stomach and turns up the volume for the both of them to hear.

Ba-bump, Ba-bump, Ba-bump, Ba-bump, Ba-bump

The room was filled with the sound of a steady yet gentle heartbeat. This was always Ivy’s favorite part, seeing the parent’s reaction to hearing the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. And Puzzles’ reaction was no different. He looked at the screen and smiled.

“That’s… that’s really my…?”

“Yes, that’s your baby’s heart. Healthy too.”

After performing the necessary tests, the doctor wiped away the gel and allowed him to pull his shirt back down. She grabbed her clipboard and wrote a few things down.

“Well Mr. Puzzles, I can confidently say that everything in your pregnancy is going well. You’re healthy, the baby’s healthy… Although your baby does seem to be a bit underweight, hopefully we can fix that before the due date with some medication and a proper diet.”

“So uh, when is my due date?” Mr. Puzzles asked.

“Well you said you got pregnant three months ago, which was back in April. So if my math is correct, you should be ready to pop in January.”

“January… got it.”

After that, Doctor Ivy handed him some medicine and prenatal vitamins for him to take and scheduled the next ultrasound appointment. As they left the hospital the tv host was staring down at the ultrasound photo Ivy had given him, his hand going to his belly.

“To think… this little thing is inside me growing.” He said quietly.

“And in just a few months, it’ll be a fully grown baby in your arms. It must’ve been something to actually see them for the first time.”

“Yeah… it was.” Mr. Puzzles replied with a smile.

Sure he already accepted the fact he was pregnant and that he chose to keep it, but to actually see the little one for himself AND hear their heartbeat… he couldn’t put it into words. He began to love the child more and the idea of becoming a father. He started to rub his stomach as they got on the bus to get home, once they sat down he looked down at his belly.

“Hey… I know you probably can’t hear me right now… But I just want you to know that I already love you with all my heart. I can’t wait to have you in my arms.”

~~~

Back in the prison, Chris was marching down the hall to call a meeting with all the guards working in the prison after receiving a chilling phone call from Meggy. Apparently the reason how Puzzles ended up in the condition he’s in was because one of the guards unassigned to him came into his cell and assaulted him.

This goes against all protocol and regulations placed into the prison, terminating their contract wouldn’t be enough, so maybe Swag’s ideas can finally be put into good use for THIS situation. But before he even reached his destination…

A loud horn emitted all around the prison, the doors and windows going into shutdown mode as a red light beamed and faded from the ceiling. Chris groaned in frustration, picking up his pace to head to a different place now.

“Oh great! What now!?” He yelled, punching in the override code to get access to the security cameras to see what was going on.

The whole prison was on lockdown, something that only happens if one of the most dangerous prisoners they have was able to escape. So he looked through the cameras placed in the padded cells to see Cell #57 was empty

… The prisoner usually in it was missing… Just a pathetic decoy doll sitting on the bed.

 Chris blanched, knowing that THIS prisoner was the most dangerous one in the prison and them getting out… he can’t bring himself to imagine the chaos and destruction that would happen. He turns on the mic to speak into it.

“ATTENTION ALL STAFF! PRISONER IN CELL #57 HAS ESCAPED! APPREHEND THE PRISONER AND RETURN HIM TO HIS CELL AT ONCE!”

The guards and swat team patrolled all areas of the prison to find the prisoner that escaped. The other prisoners were terrified as to what was going on, not wanting to get caught up in it as some of them even hid. Among all the chaos, one of the guards went outside to see if the prisoner made it out of the building. They ran in a random direction to start searching, their gun falling out of place as something wiggled and moved out of the gun holder.

It was a small magenta colored blob of slime, crawling out of the gun holder and onto solid ground as it took shape. It grew a bit bigger and rounder, with a big bump on its head and little legs. It shook itself like a dog, looking around to see its plan was working flawlessly.

This little blob was the prisoner that escaped, having planned this for months and finally found the perfect opportunity to get out. He can’t be wasting away in prison! He still has something to do! Making a run for the giant wall, the blob shapeshifted into a drill and dug underground. He ended up on the other side as he looked back to see the prison looming over him. He squeaked in satisfaction, happy that his escape plan worked as he shapeshifted again into a motorcycle and rode off into the city.