Sandra pulled down the hem of her shirt, standing outside the brilliant red tent that she’d been summoned to.

It didn’t help. She would pull her shirt down, and her pants just slipped lower, so that the waistband of her diaper was visible. If she pulled her pants up, the shirt slipped up again. When she tried on a skirt, the hem jumped up to ensure that her diaper was always visible, bulging out beneath it. No outfit combination worked. There was always just a bit of diaper poking out, no matter how she arranged it.

Grumbling, she reminded herself that curses were nothing to be embarrassed about, and ducked inside the tent.

“Dazo-Zoan Meraxus?” she asked, stumbling over the foreign name.

The caravan’s leader was in the middle of dinner, sitting on a lush carpet, sipping on something rich and steaming. He paused when she entered, gave her a nod, and gestured to the opposite end of the carpet.

“Sandra Ca-shiddy?” he asked, matching her own stilted speech with his own.

“‘Cassidy’,” she said, sitting down across from him. “You asked to speak with me?”

“Yes. Have you supped?”

“We brought our own rations, I wouldn’t want to overextend your hospitality.” Sandra smiled, pleasantly, trying to remember the western rules of hospitality.

Dazo-Zoan eyed her, but didn’t press the subject of dinner. “We’ve got an issue, for which we are needing assistance from you.”

“Of course. We’re in your debt for aiding us, so we will happily return the aid. What do you need?”

The merchant sipped his drink, pressing his lips into a line as he thought. “I wonder if you might be wanting to ask for help from your guild. This matter might be beyond what you are hoping to face.”

“My party is strong, and we’ve been known to punch above our weight class when we need to,” Sandra said, sullenly crossing her arms over her waist, as though it might hide the clear evidence of her curse. “Tell me what you’re dealing with.”

“We’re approaching Tri-stan’s Bridge over Rivers-don,” Dazo-Zoan explained.

“Ah.” That filled it all in.

The lord of Tristan had died some five years before, and without any heirs, it turned into a squabble over who had claim to the fortress that watched over his bridge. A year of infighting later, and the problem had been solved when the fortress was destroyed, leaving a massive bridge and no particular owner or guardian.

Sandra knew that there had been a couple squabbles over ownership, and that it was no safe place to cross. Who, or what, held it currently, though, she couldn’t guess. “Do you know what danger, specifically?”

The merchant nodded. “We’ve been hearing the telling of a troll. A large troll.”

“So, you need us to clear out this troll for you, in exchange for the safe passage to your destination,” Sandra finished. “Do you need it dead, or just preoccupied?”

“So long as our shipments have nothing bothering them,” Dazo-Zoan said, “We won’t be caring what happens to it.”

Sandra nodded. “We can do that, then. No question about it.”

…

“We can fight a troll, right?” she asked, sitting down next around her party’s fire. They’d bought a little food from the merchants, and were borrowing sleeping rolls for the night.

“I can fight anything,” Quinn boasted.

“Maybe you can, but you can’t win against anything,” Tarja pointed out.

Hadrian had his nose stuck in a book, and barely looked up at Sandra. “Ultimately, it depends on the troll. As long as we’ve got fire or acid, though, we should be able to handle it without too much trouble.”

“That’s what I’d thought,” Sandra said, leaning forward to peer into the stew bowl. “Are you learning anything from those books we got?”

Looking up from his reading, Hadrian wrinkled his nose. “Sandra, you need a change.”

“No, I don’t,” she frowned, though she still leaned back and glanced at her diaper over her shoulder to be sure.

“Then…”

“It’s our extra party member,” Quinn said, glancing at the crib they’d brought along and getting to his feet. “I’ll get it.”

“You managed to get him out of his crib?” Sandra asked.

“No, but we figured out a way to at least change him and get him some food,” Tarja supplied. “As long as you’re not intending to remove him, the curse keeping him in place doesn’t seem as temperamental.”

“We’ll need something more powerful to free him, but that’ll have to wait until we’re at a city and we can gather material components, or just find someone with the guild who can help him,” Hadrian said, resuming his reading. “Preferably the latter, so it’s someone else’s problem.”

Sandra raised an eyebrow. “You’re grouchy tonight.”

“I’m not grouchy,” Hadrian muttered.

Doubtful, Sandra scooped herself up a bowl of dinner, warming herself over the fire. “Well, one way or another, we’re fighting a troll tomorrow. It’ll be nice to get back to the fundamentals; fighting monsters and protecting people, that’s what we’re best-”

She hesitated, getting a prickly feeling on the back of her neck. Tarja picked up on it immediately, frowning. “What is it?”

“I think we’re being watched,” Sandra said, getting to her feet and looking around.

“Where?”

“Don’t know,” Sandra said. “It’s scrying.”

“The wizard, then,” Tarja said.

“Probably.”

Sandra eyed the sky watchfully, but there wasn’t much she could do to stop it herself. “Hadrian?”

“Counterspell a master like him? Unlikely,” Hadrian muttered, crouched over his book. “Let him watch. Not much he could see that he didn't already know.”

It was probably true, but it still made Sandra uncomfortable to know that the wizard was keeping such a close eye on them. “Still, let’s mind what we say. We don’t want to let anything slip that he might find useful.”

“Besides our exact location, strengths, weaknesses, all the curses we’re afflicted with, and what we’re planning on doing tomorrow,” Hadrian pointed out.

He was definitely in a mood, but it wouldn’t do much good to bicker with him over the point. Sandra just eyed the night sky, glowered, and dug into dinner.

…

Sandra fell asleep late, and when she did, she fell asleep hard.

It had been a long day, made longer by the paranoia that kept her up. Knowing that she was being watched, knowing that the Wizard would be coming for her sooner or later, it wasn’t conducive to good rest.

She knew that the Wizard wouldn’t attack them while they were with the caravan, but what then? They couldn’t stay with it forever. Their arrangement would only take them to the next city over, and from there, they could only hide out in guild taverns and church strongholds for so long.

Eventually, they’d be exposed, and then the Wizard would come for them. Maybe in a few days, maybe in a couple weeks, maybe in a month, but he’d come for them, and she didn’t know what to do after that.

When she did finally sleep, she found herself in a cave.

The Wizard’s cave.

She was alone, naked, except for her diaper. Turning on her heels, she looked around, shivering in the cold. “Hello?”

Nobody responded. There was a tent, and from inside, she heard a baby’s wail.

Sandra was walking towards it, then. Running towards it. Fleeing the thing that was coming up behind her, but her steps were too slow, like she was running underwater. The tent wasn’t getting any closer, and the thing behind her was, and then she was inside the tent, safe, it hadn’t seen her.

But, inside the tent, there were three identical cribs.

And in each crib, bound and gagged and dressed like infants, were her friends.

They were sobbing, wailing for help. Sandra tried to approach, but her feet were rooted down.

She opened her mouth to call out, but there was a pacifier lodged between her lips, rendering her silent.

Reaching out a hand, she tried to grasp at her friends, but there was nothing she could do as pink ribbons and puffs of baby powder swallowed them, until she couldn’t make out their figures beneath all the juvenile concealment, and then they were gone.

Taken from her.

Sandra screamed.

“Shh! Shh, it’s alright,” Tarja said, crouching over her. “Shh, Sandra. You were just having a nightmare.”

It was still nighttime, with the almost-full moon shimmering down at them. Hadrian was still crouched by a dimming fire, suckling on his pacifier while he read his book, though Quinn was snoring on his sleeping roll.

“There-” Sandra panted. “You were- I was-”

She couldn’t remember the details.

“You were here, asleep, dreaming,” Tarja assured her. “Just a nightmare.”

“A nightmare,” Sandra said. “Or a Nightmare. This stinks of the Wizard’s meddling.”

“You think he would do that?” Tarja asked, before shaking her head. “Stupid question, I know.”

“I don’t put anything past him. If he wasn’t concerned about guild interference, he’d have already come down here and… done what he did in the dream.”

“Which is?”

“Taken all of you,” Sandra said.

They both sat there in silence for a long moment. Tarja broke it by reaching out and squeezing Sandra’s hand. “If he takes us, you’ll get us back.”

“I can’t-”

“You can. Maybe not instantly, but you can. You’re the best of us, Sandra, and you don’t give up.” Tarja smiled, though the expression was half lost in the dim light.

“I can’t rescue you if he takes me, too,” Sandra whispered.”

“We’ll be fine. You’ll get your potty training back. I’ll…” Tarja blushed, looking away. “We’ll stop him, and we’ll get put back the way we should be.”

“He’s the most powerful Wizard I’ve ever heard of,” Sandra argued. “Outside of legend, at least. If nobody ever wants to tangle with him, there’s a reason for it. And we’re a team of barely-better-than amateurs.”

“If he’s such hot stuff, why’s he still skulking around in the shadows, huh?” Tarja asked. “It’s because he’s not as strong as he wants us to think he is. No other reason for him to hide in caves like a scared kitten.”

Sandra was dubious, but she didn’t argue the point. “If you say so, but I’m not going to keep my hopes up that he’ll be a pushover.”

“Good. That caution is important. But he’s not invincible, either, don’t you forget that.”

“I won’t.”

“Now, we should both get some sleep. There’s a troll to slay in the morning.”

…

The merchants were of the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ mentality. It was barely the crack of dawn when they started moving, and that meant it was barely the crack of dawn when the party started moving, too. It was that, or be left behind.

Sandra was in a foul mood from the poor sleep, but she couldn’t complain much, and she did her best to keep a positive exterior. Things weren’t hopeless, yet, and her party needed all the morale boosting they could get.

Hadrian made no such efforts. As they walked down the dirt road, he said, “Gods, I don’t think it’s right that people should be walking this early in the day,” he groaned, as they shuffled down the road.

“We’re guests,” Sandra said. “They’re protecting us. We move on their schedule.”

“Hmmph,” Hadrian grumbled. “We’re guests because they have a contract with the guild, and because we’re going to fight their troll. It’s not like they’re helping us for free.”

“If it weren’t for them, we’d be trapped in the wizard’s cave right now, subject to whatever in damnation he wanted to do to us,” Sandra pointed out. “So stop complaining.”

Hadrian glowered, but shook his head and dropped that particular line of grumbling. “I’ve got work I could be doing.”

“When we get to a city, we’ll have all the time you want,” Sandra said. “We’re in no hurry.”

“We are, though,” Hadrian shot back. “If we don’t figure out what the wizard is working on in time, then he’s going to flay us alive.”

“More likely, he’ll swaddle us to death or something,” Quinn called, from a few paces back. “Or transmogrify us to babies and sell us to an orphanage or something.”

“Orphanages don’t buy babies,” Tarja said, ribbing him. “How do you think orphanages work?”

“Never been to one,” Quinn shrugged. “I guess I never really thought about it.”

“Anyways,” Hadrian snapped. “This is absolutely critical. I need to figure out what’s going on here, what he’s planning. If I don’t, we’re all doomed, and it’ll be my fault. And you’re asking why I’m complaining?”

Sandra nodded. His anxiety wasn’t completely misplaced, even if she thought he was being too hard on himself. “And?”

He looked at Sandra, frowning. “And what?”

“And how’s it going?” She supplied. “What have you learned so far?”

He looked off on the horizon, avoiding her gaze. “Nothing.”

“That’s not true. You picked up a couple of his spells-”

“Spells aren’t what we need. Learning how to cast his spells is easy. I can’t figure out why.”

Quinn, sensing the tension, jogged up. “Didn’t we talk about this before? It’s more efficient, or some such.”

“Maybe, some of the time, but he’s… I don’t know. I just don’t know, it doesn’t make sense.” Hadrian shook his head. “There’s an underlying logic, but I can’t figure it out. It’s like… Do you ever watch two experts playing Senet?”

“Not really,” Sandra said. “I’m not much for games. I know the rules.”

“Watching two masters play, it’s impossible to determine what they’re doing. Even if you know the rules, trying to follow the logic is a completely different experience.” He shook his head. “And that’s where I am. I know the rules of the spells he’s using. I can tell you how to cast one. I’ve got basic, mechanical knowledge of what he’s doing, but his reasoning is on a completely different level.”

“What are you stuck on?” Sandra asked. “Maybe I could help?”

“How?” Hadrian scoffed. “You’re barely a dabbler.”

“Because talking it out helps, when you’re stuck,” Sandra said. “Hadrian, you’re upset with the Wizard, not with me. Don’t act like you are.”

Hadrian fumed, but before he could issue a retort, the pacifier that had been plaguing him reappeared between his lips. He groaned, glancing at Sandra.

“Promise you’ll calm down?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

His glare deepened. Sandra removed the pacifier anyways.

“Talking it out would-”

“He’s watching us,” Tarja said, pointing.

“What?” Sandra looked over her shoulder, then followed the line that Tarja was pointing out. “Gods. He is.”

Up on the hillside to their right, making absolutely no effort to hide himself, there was a tiny figure staring down at them. Even as small and far away as he was, it was obviously the Wizard.

He wasn’t moving to attack, he was just… watching. Waiting.

“Why don’t you just walk on up and ask him yourself?” Quinn suggested.

“Don’t,” Sandra chided. “Not even as a joke. The moment we’re past the border of the caravan, he’ll strike, and they won’t come to help us then. We stay together.”

“What’s he watching for, then?” Quinn asked. “Couldn’t he just use scrying?”

“Because he wants to remind us that he’s there,” Sandra said, quietly. “Let’s keep walking.”

…

“Sandra?”

She had to turn, and then look down a little, at the spry halfling that had come up behind her. “Yes, that’s me.”

“You sent for someone to retrieve your camp possessions,” the halfling explained. Gesturing with his head to the large haversack he was carrying, he added, “I loaded it all in here.”

“Right, thank you.” Digging in her pocket, Sandra passed him two silver pieces. “Here, for your trouble.”

He nodded, then smirked. “So you’re adventurers? Like, with the guild?”

“That’s right,” Sandra said, noting that his eyeline was directed towards her waist, where the top of her diaper was impossible to hide. “Why?”

“I always wanted to join up with them, but they said I didn’t have what it took,” the halfling explained. “Came to them when I was just a kid, showed them what I could do. They told me I wasn’t mature enough.”

“Then you talked to the wrong people in the guild,” Sandra said, simply, taking the sack and opening it up. The magic meant that she could retrieve whatever she wanted just by thinking about it and reaching for it, so she went through a mental checklist. Everything was there, as far as she could tell - Their sleeping rolls, their spare clothes, their travel rations. “They don’t have tests. You want in, you just apprentice with someone who’s licensed, complete at least three paid quests, then you can start… paying… dues. Okay, creep, where are they?”

“Where’s what?”

“My underwear,” Sandra said, digging into the bag with her hand, but it didn’t accomplish much. “They’re not in here with my other clothes.”

“I didn’t take ‘em,” the halfling raised an eyebrow. “You think I’d want to steal your diapers?”

“Not my diapers, I only have one-” Sandra groaned. “Panties. Regular panties. What I normally wear, when I’m not cursed.”

“I packed up everything I found at your camp, lady,” the halfling said. “If it’s not in that bag, then it got stolen. Now, stop insulting me, get your crap, and give me my haversack back.”

“Fine,” Sandra frowned, and started taking things out of the bag, moving it into her own backpack or distributing it to the rest of the party, wordless and annoyed. She was certain that the little creep had stolen her panties, but she couldn’t prove it and it wasn’t worth an argument, so she just went along with passing out their stuff.

Once she’d passed everything else out, she found a folded piece of paper in the bottom of the sack, dyed a rich blue. It definitely hadn’t been in their inventory before.

Pulling it out, she read the note.

“I took the liberty of removing a couple items you have no need for anymore, as payment for what you stole. You should thank me - those big girl panties were just dead weight for a baby like you.”

Sandra crumpled up the note and tossed it to the side of the road, shoving the bag back towards the halfling. Glowering, she passed him another silver piece, too. “You did your job. Sorry.”

...

The bridge was as impressive as its reputation implied, even with its fortress crumbled. Almost two thousand feet long, with deep arches that sank into the black water, casting long shadows in the afternoon light.

There was no cover on that bridge, almost no terrain. That was deliberate, of course; any army trying to cross it would have to be pelted with arrows and spells for a third of a mile before with no protection save for what they could carry. At one time, a massive enchanted pump system could funnel water up from the river and flood the bridge, casting attackers back with a tidal wave, but that magic was long since gone along with the rest of the fortress.

Now, it was just a ruin, and a long, stone path over the great Riversdon.

“Be cautious moving through the ruins,” Sandra advised her party, as they scouted out ahead of the caravan. “Just because the troll has been spotted living under the bridge doesn’t mean he hasn’t moved on up. He could be anywhere, waiting to ambush us.”

“What’s the plan if it does?” Hadrian asked.

“Same as the plan if he doesn’t,” Sandra replied. “Beat the crap out of him until the beast either runs away or dies, then set fire to the body so it can’t regenerate.”

“Easy peasy,” Quinn said, hitching up his skirt and hefting his hammer. “Let’s get this done.”

The busty, burly half-orc led the way as they crept through the ruins, following the main path through what had once been a series of portcullises and gates. Half-standing structures and demolished towers loomed, providing many places for beasts to hide, but nothing came after them.

“We should just let the caravan’s guards handle this,” Hadrian grumbled.

“Stop complaining,” Sandra snapped. “You’ve been in a mood ever since-”

“Shh,” Tarja said, holding up a hand. “Do you hear that?”

The party stopped, holding their breath and listening.

Quiet, and far ahead, was a low, deep rumble. At first, Sandra thought it was a distant earthquake, before she realized that she was hearing snoring.

“Damn,” she whispered. “It sounds big.”

“Everything’s small when you knock it on its back,” Tarja said. “We know where it is. Let’s go kill it.”

Sandra nodded, summoned a black umbral dagger into her hand, and nodded.

The party marched forward, no longer being subtle or quiet. The bridge was a sturdy, old thing. Strong enough that even the blasts that had taken apart the fortress couldn’t bring it down.

When they stepped onto it, they entered the Troll’s domain, and it reacted.

The snoring stopped. Quinn took on a defensive posture, Sandra slipped off to the side to prepare a flanking maneuver, while Tarja and Hadrian readied their ranged attacks. A classic marching order.

Three hundred feet ahead, the troll clambered up from beneath the bridge, rolling up onto all fours and roaring. The bellow was loud, loud enough to shake them to their core.

Sandra felt her diaper grow suddenly warm, and blushed at her body’s automatic fear response.

Loping towards them, the troll picked up speed, galloping towards the party. It was broad enough that it could reach out and touch both sides of the bridge, and it crossed the distance between itself and the party fast.

Tarja loosed an arrow, and it struck home, but the troll barely noticed. It was two hundred feet away, gaining, ready to slam into Quinn.

Quinn bellowed back at the troll, enraged at the challenge.

Time seemed to pass slowly, as though every six seconds were an eternity for Sandra to analyze the situation, but there wasn’t much she could do. She had to wait for the troll to get close, so she could flank him and strike.

“Get down!”

She turned, confused. Hadrian was waving his arms and shouting, pointing off to the right, over the river.

What is he talking about? She turned to look, spotting the figure flying towards the bridge, arms out, and fire building on his fingertips.

There was no more warning than that before the roiling balls of fire flew towards the bridge, enormous so hot that Sandra could feel them from dozens of yards away.

Each ball slammed into the troll, one at a time. Sandra could see the beast, alarmed, get knocked to the ground, but after that it was consumed by fire and vanished amidst the conflagration.

When the fire cleared, the troll was just a charred body.

It was a terrifying display of power. It hadn’t just been easy for the wizard to defeat the troll, it had been trivial, barely something worth thinking about. Like killing an annoying mosquito.

The Wizard floated to a stop over the body like it was nothing.

“We’re still with the caravan!” Quinn shouted, raising his hammer.

“Of course you are. I just wanted to do you a little favor while I was passing through,” the Wizard said, smiling broadly. “I’ll see you when you reach your destination. Hopefully you can fare a little better than the troll.”

Sandra gritted her teeth. The threat was obvious, and there was little she could do to argue with it. He really was just that much stronger than them.

“We beat you once,” Hadrian spat. His voice was loud enough to be heard without shouting.

The wizard had been ready to fly away, but he stopped and glanced back at him, sneering. “You escaped me once, when I wasn’t trying. It won’t happen a second time.”

Dammit, Hadrian, don’t run your mouth now, Sandra thought, but he kept talking. “You don’t know what else we’ve got up our sleeves. Your first humiliation was just a taste.”

“Your caravan doesn’t protect you completely, child,” the Wizard said, glaring darkly. “I-”

Sandra stepped in, cutting off the passions before they could rise to real combat. “I want to offer you a bargain!”

The Wizard stopped, looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“What’s your price?” Sandra asked. “To leave us alone. You don’t bother us, we don’t bother you.”

“I don’t need your bargain for you not to bother me,” the Wizard scoffed. “I’ll just take you at my earliest convenience.”

“I can make your life hard.”

“How?”

“By hiding,” Sandra explained, simply. “The guild has ways to escape powerful enemies. You’ll get us, eventually, but how long are you willing to spend tracking down vermin when you’ve got more important things to worry about? Months? Years? Powerful or no, you’re still mortal, and do you really want to waste your time on us?”

The Wizard scratched his chin, scowling. “Once I’ve mastered my school…” he grimaced. “My price will be steep.”

“I’ll pay it, if I can,” Sandra said.

“I promise you, it can be paid.” The Wizard’s expression sparkled as he considered his options, and for the first time, Sandra thought he looked positively… happy. “First, I will provide a cage that will lock things away completely, so that they cannot even be touched or perceived, locked away beneath the diaper you wear,” he declared, grinning. “Then, I will provide an outfit that cannot be removed or covered up.”

“The outfit can’t be binding or restraining,” Sandra said. “If it renders me immobile or helpless, there’s no deal.”

“You’ll be as mobile as you are now, though you’ll feel quite foolish,” the Wizard promised her.

“Sandra…” Tarja said, quietly. “You don’t have to do this.”

“It’s this, or he hunts us down and does worse to all of us,” Sandra hissed back. Raising her voice, she called back, “Is that your total price?”

“Yes. I’ve already crafted the items I have in mind. I will conjure these things, and they will appear fully formed, replacing what is already worn. And then I will fly away, and never come within a mile of you.” He grinned. “Though that doesn’t mean I won’t be checking up on your humiliation from time to time.”

“What assurance do we have that you won’t break your end of the deal?” Sandra asked.

“If I do, the clothes and the cage will fall away and you’ll be free,” the Wizard suggested.

The terms were too light. He was playing them, and Sandra knew it. Not lying, just getting the better end of the deal - Sandra would be humiliated and forced to wear whatever outfit he wanted her in, and once he decided he wanted to track them down properly and take the whole party captive, he still could. As fast as he could move, only having a mile of warning was not much time to escape.

But, it was time. Time to learn, or to grow, or just to try and get a few of their curses broken.

“I accept your terms,” Sandra said, nodding.

“Then it’s a deal.” The Wizard raised his hands, focused for a moment, and without giving a moment for Sandra to reconsider, summoned the magic to complete his end of the deal.

Sandra waited for the magic to take her.

Instead, she heard a gasp, and a sudden crackling of magic a few paces off to her side.

Spinning, she saw Hadrian lifted up by magic, a subtle glow emanating from his body as his arms spread out and the clothes on his body turned to ribbons, flying off him in a colorful display.

Naked, floating in the air, he gasped as a ball of light formed between his legs, coalescing into a silvery metal cage that closed between his legs, sealing away his cock behind the shimmering matter. With a burst of power and blinding light, then, the cage disappeared, along with everything it contained, reversing the parts and leaving behind a vagina in its place.

Hadrian’s eyes bulged in discomfort and alarm, but his pacifier reappeared between his lips before he could cry out, and a moment later, a pair of plain, white, briefs slipped up between his legs.

Sandra recognized the briefs, unfortunately. They were identical to a pair she’d put on in a cave, a couple weeks prior. As soon as they were on him, the thin fabric transformed and swelled, changing into a thick, puffy diaper, spreading his thighs apart with a little puff of baby powder.

And then, spreading out from the crotch of his diaper, a slightly glossy black substance began to spread, creeping across his body like a hyperactive plant, quickly covering his bare skin from his thighs down and waist up. Smooth and artificial, when the black rubbery substance made it to his feet, it formed around them in the shape of intensely steep, pink heels that couldn’t be removed. Pink laces ran up the front of them, though they were purely decorative - there was no way to untie them, or even to remove the boots if the laces came loose.

The substance spread up to his neck and stopped, terminating in a hard, pink collar that accented the rest of the body glove. It also spread down his arms and to his hands, enclosing his fingers like a form fitting glove.

Once he was completely sealed in, Hadrian dropped to the ground and fell prone, panting behind his pacifier.

“This is goodbye, then,” the wizard said, chuckling. “Remember, if you try and break this curse, then you’ll be breaking your end of the deal, and I’ll happily come to extract my revenge in full. Ta ta, children.”

Sandra wheeled to shout at him, but before the words could escape her lips, he slipped through a dimension door and vanished.

No point arguing with his wake. Running over, she crouched by Hadrian, pulling the pacifier out. “Are you okay?”

Hadrian shook his head, breathed heavily for a second, and then started laughing.

He’s hysterical, Sandra thought, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Hadrian, it’s okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t think he’d go after you, but-”

“That fool,” Hadrian wheezed, grinning as he choked on his laughter. “What an absolute, arrogant amatuer.”

Sandra blinked. “What are you talking about?”

“He-He gave the game away,” Hadrian cackled, barely able to speak over his laughter. “I know what he’s trying to do, and I think I know how to stop him.”