Thanks to GreenD109 for Queens Thorn's Stand stats.

Battle of the Queens - Terror in the Toyland

"Wahh it's so hot," Hanabi groaned while waving a fan in her face.

The Egyptian sun beat down heavily on Hanabi as she took out a handkerchief wiping the sweat from her forehead. Suddenly a water bottle was thrusted in her face. Her eyes trailed up the arm that held the bottle and Hanabi smiled seeing who held it.

"Thank you, JoJo," Hanabi thanked taking the bottle and happily drinking it.

"Maybe I should buy a parasol to block out the sun," Hanabi pondered

"Jotaro! Hanabi!"

The two teens turned their heads when their names were called.

"Let's go!" Joseph called out.

Jotaro and Hanabi followed after Joseph and Avdol, but there was no Polnareff. Hanabi looked around but didn't spot the eccentric Frenchman.

"Where's Polnareff? I hope he hasn't got into too much trouble," Hanabi said

Hanabi was right to worry, Polnareff seemed to really attract unwanted attention to himself. Right now Hanabi was sweat dropping as she saw Polnareff sitting on the ground trying to quickly scoot away from another man who appeared to be a beggar.

The man started to yell at Polnareff, and he retaliated yelling back. This continued until another man appeared on the scene then handed Polnareff some money before walking off. This caused the beggar to once again yell at Polnareff.

"Hey, Polnareff!" Avdol yelled out, "Don't sit there and give that money to him."

Polnareff looked confused before looking back at the man, "Is this guy a beggar?"

"Sorry." Avdol apologized to the man, "My friend doesn't know much about this city."

"You should have just said so in the first place," Polnareff said facing the man.

"I'm a beggar who can't speak in public for professional reasons," The Beggar said

"This city has a beggars' association," Avdol said

"Beggar's Association?" Hanabi questioned confused

"Each beggar has an established territory where he's paid to sit and do his work. That may seem strange, but without rules like this, there'd be chaos in the streets," Avdol explained

"Huh…." Polnareff said looking bewildered.

"Even worse, you hurt my pride! I wonder if I'd earn more if I dressed up like a needy foreigner. Maybe I'll start doing that." The Beggar stood up facing the group, "By the way, I thought you looked familiar. Aren't you Avdol, the fortune-teller? I heard that someone was trying to kill you, so you fled to Japan."

"I've been looking for you," Avdol reached into his jacket and pulled out the photos, "to ask a favor, since you hear much and remember it well. I'll pay well." Avdol handed the man the photos, "We need to find the location shown in this picture and were in a bit of a hurry."

The Beggar examined the photos for a few minutes, then with a flourish of his hand he grabbed his cloak and ripped it off revealing a very nice and stylish suit underneath it.

"Hey, that one of my Mama's suits." Hanabi states recognizing the suit, "It's from her special limited collection line it-wait?! Do the beggars here really make that much money!?"

The Beggar put on a fedora hat completing the outfit, "I'm done with work for the day." He then walked over to a rather expensive looking car. "I can find the place from that picture in three hours. Wait right there."

Hanabi and Polnareff looked the most confused out of the group as the man got into his car and drove off.

"That was...unexpected," Hanabi said, "Wait…..where's Iggy?"

"Ahhh much better."

Hanabi exited one of a shop carrying a parasol. She opened it up blocking out the harsh rays of the midday sun. The parasol was a lavender color that matched her hair with pink desert flowers decorating it.

"Now that, that's taken care of I'll get back to the others."

Hanabi smiled making her way back to her friends, making sure to keep her eyes open for Dio's lair. She walked passing by various shops, if she wasn't in such a hurry she would have stopped and browsed but Jotaro gave her a time limit before she had to be back or he'd come looking for her.

"Hanabi….."

"Huh?" Hanabi turned around having heard someone whisper out her name. Besides the standard pedestrians, Hanabi didn't see anyone who stuck out. She shrugged her shoulders thinking it was her imagination and turned to continue on.

"Come play Hanabi….."

This time Hanabi froze. The whisper was much louder and creepier.

"Come play….."

Hanabi tightly clenched her parasol then started to speed walk down the street. Not daring to turn around. The whispers got louder and it felt like something was closing in on her. Hanabi sprang forward breaking into a run. She barreled down the street and took a sharp left turn onto another street, but she dashed head first into someone knocking herself to the ground.

"Hey watch where you're going!" A man yelled

"S-Sorry sir." Hanabi apologized bowing her head.

The man scoffed but left continuing on wherever he was going. Hanabi stood up dusting off her clothes before picking up her fallen parasol. Before she could carry on her way the sound of music stopped her. Hanabi turned to see she was standing in front of a toy store.

"Queen's Castle." Hanabi read out loud. "Where one can have fun and play all day." She peeked through the store's windows to see it was one of those classic toy stores. The kind that sold handmade dolls and stuffed toys. These kinds of places where more often visited by collectors rather than those looking to play.

Sitting on a table displayed in the front window was a toy chest with a crank on the side. The crank was turning as the chest played a beautiful melodic tune.

Hanabi got closer to the store putting her hand on the window as she stared at the toy chest, its music entrancing her.

"How cute…."

The soft music was lovely as it continued to play. Hanabi's eyes started to get heavy, and she grew tired. She wavered back and forth but continued to stare at the music chest. The more she listened the heavier her eyes got until she could barely keep them open. They slowly started to close and the world around her started to fade away.

On the streets of Cairo in front of a toy store, a lovely young girl with lavender hair stood holding a parasol as she gazed in the shop's window.

One second she was there then the next she was gone. The only sign that she was ever there was her purple parasol fluttering to the ground.

Hanabi's eyes snapped open. Her mind was in a haze as she stared straight up. The sky above her was pink, bubblegum pink. The clouds were purple and soft looking, like cotton candy.

"W-Where am I?"

Hanabi sat up grabbing her head. As she pushed her body up her hand pressed into the ground but it felt off.

"The ground…. it's so soft."

Hanabi pressed her hand into the ground and it sunk in. She gasped pulling her hand back seeing her handprint on the soft ground. After a few seconds, the ground bounced back taking its normal shape.

Hanabi heard a strange mechanical noise and looked to her left to see a little wind-up toy soldier walk past her.

She took in the world around her and it looked like something out of a child's fantasy. There was a rainbow river. Rocks were made of gumdrops. There were giant teddy bears and dolls. A few stuffed animals having a tea party. In the distance, there was a large pink castle.

"Hahaha! Welcome to my world!"

Hanabi jumped at the voice twirling around looking for the source of the sound.

"I-It's that voice. The one that led me to the toy store."

A loud laughter rang out coming from every direction. "It's so nice of you to come play with me little Hanabi. I just love toys and games."

"Where are you?" Hanabi got into a defensive stance bringing out Queens Thorn.

"Haha! If you wanna find me then you'll have to play along. It's been so long since I've had a new play toy, especially one with a Stand. Regular humans are so boring."

"This woman….she clearly has a Stand. Is it her Stand that's making this place? Or did the Stand transport me somewhere? Or is this sort of like Anubis, where the Stand is in my mind?" Hanabi kept thinking of different possibilities at what the Stand could be and do. She really wished she had Jotaro with her, he could have figured this out in a heartbeat.

"Come now little Hanabi. This Queen is growing quite bored. Time to play. If you want to escape you must make your way to the castle. Now let's play! The first game. Tag!"

"Tag?" This sounded too easy to Hanabi.

"This isn't like any ordinary game of tag but its still simple enough. There are just two easy rules you have to follow. Rule 1. You have to make it to the Echoing Fields before the timer is up." There was a poof and a clock with a goofy face appeared hovering above Hanabi. "Rule 2. Don't get caught!"

A large shadow appeared over Hanabi and she froze. She looked up and screamed as something came down upon her.

Hanabi screamed and dived right in time as a giant bear paw crashed on the ground where she once stood. She sat up quickly seeing a large teddy bear had attacked her. This teddy bear was neither cute nor cuddly. Its fur was dark grey and ruff. It wore a red bow that looked like it had been gnawed on. One of its ears was missing along with one of its button eyes. It had long sharp razor claws and its once soft muzzle had a row of sharp teeth.

Heavy footsteps pounded the ground and Hanabi felt a cold sweat as more killer stuffed animals appeared.

Hanabi took off running the killer toys quickly taking chase. She panted as she ran down a road that was paved with domino pieces. Hanabi heard a roaring noise, and she was afraid to look behind her. She peered over her shoulder and screams throwing herself forward nearly getting cut in half.

"That bunny has a chainsaw arm!"

The pink bunny looked like it was giggling as it swung its arm again.

"Queens Thorn!"

Queens Thorn appeared and made a large tree grow. The chainsaw bunny cut through it but it was enough to at least slow it down a little.

"Ooooh! This is getting good! So fun! You've got two minutes left!"

Hanabi was doing her best until something wrapped around her ankle tripping her. She fell forward with a scream as something sharp dug into her ankle.

Behind her snickering was a large raggedy doll holding a spiked whip, which was latched onto Hanabi's ankle. Thinking quickly Hanabi grabbed the spiked whip with her bare hands the sharp pieces digging into palms causing them to bleed profusely. She yanked the whip out of the doll's hand and unwrapped it from her ankle, before she got back up and continued to run.

"So fun!"

Hanabi winced with each step her injured ankle clearing starting to slow her down.

"They're catching up. I'll never make it to the finish line in one piece. These guys are clingier than weeds." That's when an idea popped up in Hanabi's head. "Weeds….that its!"

"Queens Thorn!"

"Veeeee!"

Hanabi skid to a stop doing a 180 facing the terror-filled stuffed creatures.

"Here we go!" "Veeeee!"

Queens Thorn slammed its hands onto the ground causing vines with purple flowers to shoot out. With rapid force the vines grew and grabbed the murderous stuffed toys quickly immobilizing them.

"Yes! Wisteria Vines! They have beautiful flowers but they're powerful vines have been known to choke out, crush, and smother any plant in their wake. With a little boost from Queens Thorn, not even killer toys can stand up to these powerful vines."

Hanabi smiled then turned back around running to the finish line.

In a dark room sitting alone staring at a large television monitor a figure smirked as they watched Hanabi reach the goal.

Hanabi was hunched over resting her hands on her knees as she stood next to her was a checkered flag that said goal. "I-I made it."

The goofy clock that had been following her around gave a humorous chuckle sprinkling some confetti on top of Hanabi's head before it poofed away.

"Weird…"

"Congratulations Hanabi! You made it! The Queen is pleased with your performance. How fun! But you can't stop now! It's time for some more fun! Before we get started I've got a special present for you!"

There was a poof and a pink box with a white ribbon appeared in front of Hanabi.

"Does she seriously want me to open it? Who knows what could happen if I open this thing?"

Queens Thorn appeared and using her vine whip she slashed the box open.

"Well, nothing jumped out and tried to attack me so that's good."

Hanabi cautiously peeked into the box and saw what was inside.

"A Rubber ducky?"

She picked up the cute little bath toy and it let out small quack. It continued to quack over and over, the more it quacked the louder and quicker the quacks got.

"It's almost like it's coun...ting...down….!" Hanabi threw the rubber ducky covering her face and it exploded. Hanabi screamed as she fell back the heat of the flames licking at her arms.

"T-That was a close one."

Hanabi looked down at her arms, and they stung as they bled.

"Oh, what fun! Did you like my toy? The surprise was absolutely explosive! Time for game number two!"

A giant rain cloud appeared out of nowhere and the sounds of thunder rang in the sky. There was a streak of lighting then something fell from the cloud hitting Hanabi in the head. It harmlessly bounced off her head landing on the ground.

"Oh no." Hanabi paled when she saw what had fallen from the sky.

She screamed and covered her head as hundreds of rubber ducky's rained from the sky.

"Game number 2!"

The ducky rain stopped and Hanabi was scared to see she was literally a sitting duck in the middle of a field of explosive rubber bath toys.

"Get to the other side of the field to the Snuggle Forest without getting blown up! It's time to play! Start!"

As soon she said that a ducky explodes starting a chain reaction. Hanabi screamed and stood up running trying to avoid the explosions.

"I-I'm not gonna survive like this! It's like a minefield!"

*BOOM*

"AAAAHHH!"

Queens Thorn

Power - B Speed - C Range - B

Durability - C Precision - C Potential - A

Hanabi was flung forward by an explosion landing on her hands and knees. Her face hovered right over another duck that was quacking quickly. She jerked back just as the duck exploded causing her to roll backwards.

"I gotta-I gotta think of something. These explosions keep flinging me all over the place. Wait!"

An idea sparked in Hanabi and she got up again. Her eyes quickly searched around.

"There!"

The figure watching Hanabi looked rather confused as she ran straight for a large pile of the explosive rubber ducks.

"Haha! Maybe she knows it's pointless to keep trying and is gonna blow herself up. But it's no fun if she gives up."

"One shot. Here I go!"

Hanabi ran and jumped her landing spot being the large pile of exploding toys.

She heard the final quack and the first duck exploded creating another chain reaction of explosions.

"Now!"

Queens Thorn appeared and created a large flower under Hanabi. The explosive force hit the flower and rocketed Hanabi high into the sky. She held tightly onto the petals of the flower as it soars over the rest of the rubbery minefield. The flower came back down on the other side skidding in the dirt before stopping.

Hanabi let out a tired smile happy her plan worked.

"I-I'm glad that worked. If I had timed that wrong it could have been over for me."

Hanabi leaned against a tree at the entrance of the Snuggle Forest. Just by looking at it she could tell why it was called that. The trees and other foliage were made out of yarn looking like they had been hand knitted. The forest floor was just one large quilt.

"What fun! What fun! That was so enjoyable little Hanabi. It had me on the edge of my seat. Now pick up your feet it's time for game number three!"

"This isn't going so well for me. All I'm doing is just surviving. I have no idea who's tormenting me."

"Now now Hanabi! Turn that frown upside down. If you win this game I'll tell you how to get to my castle. We're gonna play a combo of my favorite games. Keep away and I spy. In order to get into my castle, you need a special key, but I broke the key up into four pieces. I'll give you clues to locate each piece but once you find it you've gotta catch who's got it! Are you ready to play?"

"It's not like I have much of choice." Hanabi let out a sigh. "I'm ready."

"Good! Good! It's time to play!"

The goofy clock from before reappeared. "You've got 30 minutes to retrieve all the pieces or you lose! Clue #1: I spy something sweet! Go!" The clock started and Hanabi took off.

"Something sweet? Something sweet? Well, this place is decorated like a child's fantasy. When I first entered the rocks were actually candy so, something sweet must mean the puzzle piece is one of the confectionery treats lying around, but I don't see any more sweets."

Hanabi looked around the forest spotting nothing. She looked at the time seeing she had already wasted seven minutes.

"Just randomly looking isn't going to help me. She said something sweet. But how-?"

*SQUISH*

Hanabi lifted her foot off the ground as she felt something mushy under her shoe. She lifted her foot up to see a blue substance smeared on the ground and her foot.

"Is that….?" Hanabi bends down and sniffs it. "It is frosting." She saw the blue frosting was making a trail. Her eyes followed the trail seeing how it stopped at some bushes.

"There." She ran over to the bushes and started shifting the branches and leaves of the bush looking around. She pulled back some more branches to reveal a cake.

"Found it!"

Poking out from underneath the cake was a large puzzle piece.

"That must be part of the key."

She reached down grabbing for the piece, when something latched onto her hand sinking its teeth into her flesh. Hanabi screamed and pulled back.

"Hahahahaha!"

A small sinister giggle came from the bushes as Hanabi held her bleeding fingers. She'd like to say she wasn't surprised when the cake stood up. It had chocolate legs and frosting arms and a wicked little smile filled with sharp candy corn teeth. It gave Hanabi another mischievous giggle before waving the puzzle piece in her face then it took off running.

"Oh no, you don't!"

Queens Thorn appeared using its vine whip to cut the cake in half. Hanabi dove forward grabbing the puzzle piece as the cake landed in a pulpy pile. The puzzle piece had a purple background with the partial image of an old key on it.

"Very good! You caught that one quickly time for Clue #2: I spy something smiling."

Hanabi winced at her bleeding hand. Her other wounds were not helping either. She's had to dodge and run around so much she hasn't had any time to treat her wounds. She took out some bandages and quickly wrapped the wounds that were the worst which was her hand and ankle. With the bandages tied off, she went in search for her next puzzle piece.

Hanabi had walked deeper into the Snuggle Forest. The deeper she got the less snugly the forest got. Light seemed to escape the deeper parts of the forest giving it an eerie setting.

As Hanabi walked she pondered what she could be looking for.

"Something smiling? Knowing how crazy my time has been here it could be anything. A giant smiley face painted on a wall that tries to eat me. A set of wind up teeth that breathes fire. Literally, the possibilities are endless."

Hanabi continued to travel deeper and deeper into the forest. The trees changed from cute bright colors to dark monochrome tones. She pushed herself through some thick low hanging branches and spotted a light in the distance.

"What's that?"

Hanabi ran towards the light as she got closer the light got brighter. Her clothes got snagged on some branches tearing into the fabric, but all she was focused on was getting to that light. She broke through the branches entering a small clearing.

"Is….that a pumpkin?"

Sitting in the middle of the clearing of the forest was indeed a pumpkin on a pedestal, a jack-o-lantern to be more specific.

A bright candle burning in its center and inside the Halloween decoration a piece of the puzzle.

"Found it!"

Hanabi cautiously approached the pedestal looking around it carefully. There didn't seem to be any traps set around the pedestal. She reached out to pick up the pumpkin making sure to be extra cautious especially after the whole cake biting. She was just going to tip the pumpkin over and let the puzzle piece fall out.

She had the pumpkin firmly grasped in her hands and went to flip it over when-

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

Hanabi was not amused as the jack o'lantern in her hand started to laugh and shake in her arms.

She just allowed the pumpkin to laugh as she went to go shake the puzzle piece out of it, when the sound of thunderous footsteps stopped her.

"What the?"

Hanabi turned towards the source of the loud pounding.

The jack o'lantern in her hands laughed louder as the pounding got heavier. The drumming steps were followed by the loud neighing of a horse.

"Don't tell me!?"

Before Hanabi could even process her thoughts the trees shook and outburst a figure cloaked in black.

"Headless Horseman!"

Hanabi screamed as the pitch black horse neighed raring back on its legs. A man wearing a black cloak held a lantern in his hand, as his shoulders shook. He couldn't laugh, or say anything since he had no head. Hanabi took off running the jack-o-lantern held over her head.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

"Hahahah! So fun! So fun!"

"Ahhhhhh!"

Hanabi kept screaming as she ran.

"This is not fun!"

The screaming girl broke through the treeline running into an open area the Headless Horseman still hot on her trial.

"That's it!" Hanabi snapped

She turned around and launched the laughing pumpkin at the Headless Horseman. The Grimm fairy tale character was not expecting this as the pumpkin smashed right into its body causing the rider to fall off the horse. As he hit the ground he vanished in a cloud of black smoke. The horse gave a loud neigh before it too vanished in a black smoke. The only thing that remained was the pieces of the smashed pumpkin and the second puzzle piece.

Hanabi marched up to the puzzle piece picking it up. "I've had enough of this. You wanna play let's play!"

"Yes let's play little Hanabi! Clue #3: I spy something wet!"

It only took Hanabi a few seconds to spot the small pond in the distance. Without any hesitation, the girl ran to the pond and dived in head first.

To be continued ➟