Ballroom Blitz

[Kinsey Calhoun]

Kinsey glanced up at the ceiling and frowned.

"Your grandmother would be pissed to know someone was poking around her apartment." Kinsey said as she contemplated just yanking the person through the floor. The image of Joe's anger gave her second thoughts. For a man with two false legs he still had enough spirit could kick someone's ass. She'd seen him toss some of the roughest people out of his bar before.

[Cece Ryder]

"Once everyone's in the back, we secure the place... draw whoever it is, down to us." Cece said as she tapped the cuff of her blazer and a phaser rifle and a sword materialized. "Something Tony and I have been working up." she said casually. "I've been getting that 'Calhoun itch' for danger lately. Although this isn't what I had in mind."

[Kinsey Calhoun]

Kinsey glanced over her shoulder as Joe carried a tray of drinks into the back room. It looked like Trinity had done a rather good job of getting everyone into the back or at least generating enough curiosity that they followed her back there.

"Looks like everyone is in the back. Do you want the sword or the rifle?" Kinsey inquired with a wicked grin.

Meanwhile, Inara glanced around the backroom. She could sense the tension in the room and knew something was wrong. Trinity seemed on edge her hand resting on something inside her outfit. The Crosses were alert but they didn't seem concerned though Bella was oblivious picking at the packages with Eli. When Joe walked in and Carly and Kinsey didn't follow him she left to see what was going on, Selene following after her.

[Cece Ryder]

"I think you want the sword. I'm fine with either." Cece said as she held them out to her mother.

"How... touching." a female voice said from above. "You're almost being polite about which of you I get to mess up with that sword." she dropped to the ground as graceful as a snowfall. Her black skirt billowing around her bare legs and shiny black boots. "Pity I can't kill either of you, but no one said anything about maiming..."

[Kinsey Calhoun]

Kinsey rolled her eyes as she took the sword. Talk talk talk that's all these people ever did was talk. Really she didn't need the sword not when she could just turn this woman into nothing. But she wanted to know who sent her and it'd been a while since she'd had a good fight.

"Kinsey what's going on." Inara's voice sounded from behind her.

[Ophelia]

"Oh who is that? She has a lovely voice... probably screams pretty too." Ophelia said with a wicked grin. "My name is Ophelia. I'm Dominus' and Bellatrix's daughter. I've been sent to retrieve you both. The rest, well... collateral damage." she gestured with the iljuna and threw a chair across the room. "And don't try killing me, I have a dozen ajem'dasis acolytes ready and waiting if I don't give the word not to attack and every single person here will be a body at the bottom of a ravine..."

[Kinsey Calhoun]

Inara took a step back into Selene who already had a weapon drawn at her side. Her eyes were fixed on Carly, Kinsey, and Ophelia with the cold calculation of killer. Assessing where she could strike to inflect the most damage with the least amount of force should she need to intervene.

"Let's not make idle threats Ophelia." Kinsey said. "I kill you and your ajem whatever come. I'll just kill them too and if they do happen to kill someone. Well that would just piss me off enough to not stop at a dozen. And so far your father hasn't been stupid enough to push me which makes me think he doesn't know you're here. So tell me Ophelia...who was stupid enough to send you?"

[Ophelia]

Ophelia walked around Kinsey and Cece and studied them for a moment. "Well, if you must know, Lady Seig'Ajem wanted Cece... but I want you. My father is afraid of you and well... I want to see what makes you tick... you do know you both belong to Dominus, this whole planet belongs to him. One call and it's a cinder. You want THAT on your head... heroes?"

[Kinsey Calhoun]

"I don't belong to anyone." Kinsey said coldly as she rotated the sword preparing to attack.

Selene moved Inara behind her as she brought her side arm up. She'd be damned if she'd let that bitch take Carly not as long as she breathed. Just as Kinsey was about to lunge she opened fire.

[Ophelia]

Ophelia gestured and deflected the weapons' fire from Selene and with another gesture raised her up in the air. "Oh how spunky... I know how attached you all are to this one. I can feel it through the Iljuna." she said as she pinned Selene's arms to her side. "The protector. The mother. The assassin. She's quite beautiful. I don't swing that way but those lips look like fun." she gave Cece a look. "You love her don't you? As much as your mother. Maybe more so. You want to kill me for even daring to touch her. Good. I want you to give into that hate, that anger." she squeezed Selene tighter, raising her weapon hand. "In the Christian Bible there's a line... if a hand causes you to sin... cut it off. Yet I'm a little tired of disarming people... I prefer crippling of late. You can always replace a lost limb with some nifty cybernetic thing. But few are willing to chop off a crippled hand." she compressed her right hand. "Now... I can spare her a lifetime of being a lefty... or you can submit to me."

"Selene wouldn't want us to do that." Cece said boldly.

"Even when you can hear her bones breaking?" Ophelia said coldly. "I'm all but the goddess of this world now. You life and die because I allow you to."