Stand Name: Scorpion Queen

Namesake: Scorpion Queen by Ace of Hearts

Type: Sapient Humanoid

User: Joanne Jonas

Scorpion Queen can create 'triggers' based on anything that happens near it. It can place these 'triggers' onto any surface, and when something comes into contact with a 'trigger', the 'action' stored within it takes effect.

Power: B

Durability: C

Speed: B

Precision: A

Range: C

Potential: A

"So, this is the place, huh?" Joanne asked.

She looked up at the sleek, shiny building that contained the Baccarat Hotel. The light of the midmorning sun shone off of the glass, making the building somewhat hard to look at. It had only taken her a half-hour to reach it by subway.

"Yes," Scorpion Queen said from where it stood a little ways to her right. "It is. And how many times must I remind you not to talk to me in public if you can avoid it? You know ordinary people can't see me. Think of how you look, talking to yourself."

"It's New York, Scorpion Queen," Joanne shrugged. "I guarantee they've all seen or will see something way crazier-seeming within a range of about an hour. Now let's get in there and find that asshole's boss already."

She walked up to the entrance to the hotel, pushing the door open and stepping into the lobby. As she entered, she looked around in amazement. Curtains hung down from the ceiling, and vases sat in glass cubes protecting them from damage. The ceiling was further decorated with lights and chandeliers, and the large glass walls allowed plenty of natural light in. On the opposite side of the room was a door.

"Damn," she breathed. "Whoever built this place had way too much money to blow."

"Excuse me, ma'am?" came a voice from next to Joanne. She jumped, spinning to look at the voice and hissing like a startled cat, only to see that it was just a member of the hotel staff. He looked to be only a little older than Joanne, and wore a white suit, with black pants and a bow tie. His black hair was combed back, descending down to his shoulders, and his eyes were tattooed black. The word "SLIP" was tattooed under his right eye, and the word "KNOT" was tattooed under his left, both in dotted lines of black ink, and he had an additional dotted line tattooed around his neck.

"Oh, I'm sorry for startling you, ma'am," the hotel employee apologized. "I just wanted to know… well, err, how to put this…"

He looked Joanne up and down, taking in her torn sweatpants, cuts, messy hair, sandals, and general off-the-street appearance.

"Are you quite certain you're in the right place, ma'am?" he said diplomatically. "Perhaps you made a wrong turn somewhere."

Shit, Joanne thought. I thought I'd just be able to walk in here and head on up to the room this key's for. Guess I've gotta bullshit my way in.

"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty sure I am!" she said, smiling cheerfully at the employee. "A friend of mine is staying here on business, and they gave me this key so that I could go introduce myself to their boss. I'd appreciate it if you could show me how to get to their room!"

"A… friend?" the employee asked skeptically.

"Yeah, that's what I said," Joanne said, still grinning. Shit! That was one of the worst lies I've ever told! No way he believes me.

She moved an arm behind her back and motioned for Scorpion Queen to move closer.

If he tries to get security to kick me out, I can have Scorpion Queen kick their asses, she thought. But if it comes to that then I'll probably get in really big trouble with the police afterward. Again.

"Hmm…" the employee said. He scrutinized Joanne, looking her up and down again. Then, as he glanced over her shoulder, the look in his eyes changed subtly, as if he'd had an idea all of a sudden. "Oh, I think I know who you're talking about! There was a man earlier who said something about inviting his friend to talk to his boss, or something along those lines. Would you like me to show you to his room?"

"Sure, that'd be great!" Joanne said, still with a huge, fake smile on her face. "I've never actually been here before, so I'd probably just get lost otherwise!"

"Right this way," the employee directed. "It's a few floors up, so it's best to take the elevator."

"Be careful, Joanne," Scorpion Queen whispered in Joanne's ear, leaning over her shoulder. "This guy's up to something, I'm sure of it. Stay on your guard."

"That's what you say every time anybody says more than two sentences to me," Joanne whispered back out of the corner of her mouth.

She followed the employee into the elevator, standing next to him as he pushed the button to take it up. The lower part of the walls of the elevator, starting about at the height of Joanne and the employee's knees, was shiny, reflective brass, while the rest of it was made of rich mahogany wood. The doors slid closed, and the elevator slowly began to rise as Scorpion Queen took up a position next to Joanne.

"Nice tattoos," Joanne said to the employee. "I really like the eye ones. I've been considering getting those myself, actually. But I thought fancy places like this didn't normally allow that kind of stuff."

"Thank you," the employee replied. "And normally, they don't. I guess I'm just a good enough employee that they don't mind. Not to brag or anything, mind you."

"No, of course, I guess that makes sense," Joanne conceded. "Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes?" the employee asked.

Joanne pointed at the employee with her left arm, holding it at a slight angle and keeping the other one splayed out at her side.

"You don't really work here, do you?" she said in the exact same "innocent question" tone of voice as before, though now with an unmistakable edge to it.

The employee tilted his head questioningly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said calmly, but his eyes told a different story.

"I'm pretty goddamn sure you're just some guy disguised as an employee," Joanne continued. "I don't know why, but I sure as hell don't like it."

"What makes you think that?" the man said, taking a step back and clenching a fist behind his back. "That's a rather serious accusation."

"Well, first of all," Joanne said, holding one finger up on the hand she had been pointing with, "you were awfully quick to let a scruffy-looking kid like me into this fancy-ass hotel. Trust me, I've tried to sneak into places like this before. There's a helluva lot more of a vet process than 'I guess your flimsy excuse works' most of the time."

"That's not-" the man started, but Joanne wasn't done.

"Second of all," she added, holding up a second finger, "how'd you know my 'friend' was a dude?"

"What?" the man said.

"The friend I claimed invited me," she elaborated. "I only ever referred to him using they/them pronouns, and yet you called him 'he'. A simple slipup? Could be, but I think it's more likely that you were reasonably able to assume who I was talking about due to a certain factor… and I've figured out what that factor was!"

"This is ridiculous!" the man exclaimed. "What's this 'factor' of yours, anyway?"

"When you were looking me up and down back there, your eyes stopped at a very peculiar moment," Joanne said, holding up a third finger. "You didn't look me in the eye, like most people actually trying to determine whether someone's lying, or at my clothes, like some fancy asshole looking down on me for being poor. You weren't even trying to peek at my boobs. No, you snuck a glance over my shoulder. And the only thing behind my shoulder…"

Scorpion Queen stepped forward, clenching its fists and preparing to punch the man who was at this point very obviously not a hotel employee.

"Was me!" it finished. "Her Stand, Scorpion Queen!"

The man stood there for a second, trying to keep up the facade. Then, he tilted his head back and started laughing. He laughed for ten whole seconds, the cackling sound grating on Joanne's ears, before he turned to look at her, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Ooh, you figured that out a lot faster than I thought you would," he said, his tone now much less friendly. "Yup, you got me. I'm not a hotel employee, and I'm a Stand user like you."

"So, why'd you let me in so easily?" Joanne asked, tilting her head. "I mean, you must have some reason."

The man cackled again, throwing his head back to do so.

"Really?" he laughed. "You found me out so easily, but you don't know the answer to a question as simple as that?"

He looked straight at Joanne, holding his arms out with one on each side of his body. His upper arms were stiff at his sides, but the lower halves were tilted outward at an angle, with their thumbs, pointer fingers, and middle fingers splayed out and their ring and pinky fingers folded inward. He had also moved his left leg up, and now had it crossed behind his right, standing in a flamingo-like pose.

"As soon as I figured out that you were a Stand user, I had an amazing idea," he said. "I decided to let you get me to the place I need to go. See, if I just waltzed up to that bastard's room without an excuse, then his bodyguards would have all the time in the world to take me out while I made my way from the lobby to there, since the employee I'm… filling in for, let's say… works down there, so they'd know something's up for sure. But a helpful employee, guiding someone to the room they're looking for even though he's got no obligation to, because he's just that nice of a guy?"

The man grinned wide at Joanne.

"There's nothing suspicious about that, is there?"

"Who's this 'bastard' you're on about?" Joanne asked.

"And why would you immediately assume that that's who we're looking for?" Scorpion Queen added.

"The 'bastard I'm on about', as you so eloquently put it," the man explained, "is a man named Giorno Giovanna. I'm here to kill him. And as for you… well, what are the chances that a Stand user would be looking for someone in a hotel like this and for that person not to be another Stand user? Law of fate and all, you know."

"No, I don't really," Joanne said. "And anyway, your plan failed, dumbass. Because if this 'Giorno Giovanna' really is the guy I'm looking for, then he's also looking for me for some reason, and I've got some questions for him that I doubt you'd give him time to answer. Besides, I'm not a big fan of murder as a general rule."

The man seemed to fixate on one specific detail of Joanne's statement.

"He's looking for you, you say?" he asked. "Any idea why?"

"Joanne…" Scorpion Queen warned.

"Nope, no clue," Joanne admitted, shrugging off her Stand's warning completely. "All I've got is that he wants me unharmed, which is real thoughtful of the guy who sent a trigger-happy dumbass after me."

The man's grin grew even wider.

"So," he said, "what you're saying is that maybe you can't lead me to Giorno, but if he wants you delivered to him safe and sound…"

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a length of rope shot out from somewhere behind him, attempting to wrap itself around Joanne and pin her arms to her sides. It succeeded partially, only managing to restrain her right arm and tying itself behind her back. Another one shot out, this one from behind Joanne, wrapping around her legs and tripping her, knocking her to the floor of the elevator.

"Well then, sounds like I've got myself a hostage, doesn't it?"

"What makes you think you can just decide that my Joanne is your hostage and I'll be okay with that?" Scorpion Queen asked, annoyed.

"Yeah, you'd better watch your next words very carefully, asshole," Joanne said, pulling herself upright using the guardrail on the elevator's wall. "And don't try anything else funny. Cuz if you do, we'll kick your ass."

"Oh, that I'd love to see," the man cackled, seeming completely disinterested in Joanne's threats. "You really think you've got anything on the Stand of a professional assassin?"

He leaned forward, hanging onto the guardrail behind him with both arms.

"I assure you, my Nero Forte is far more powerful than anything you've ever encountered in your life."