Window of Opportunity

"Uh, yeah." Karen said, "It's me again. I -"

"Look, I already told you that I'm not hiring right now." Margot groaned, "Especially when that brainless wacko I hired is about to go on in ten minutes. So, take your smelly partner and go through a car wash or something. Because I also told you we stopped serving Bloody Marys, so no tomato juice!"

"What did you just call her?" Sophie growled angrily, gritting her teeth as she glared at Margot.

"And who the hell are you supposed to be?! Some kinda barbarian stripper?!" Margot asked in annoyance. A second later, she brought a hand to her chin as she muttered, "Hmm... A stripping barbarian warrior. That's definitely becoming a routine!"

"No, no. See, what happened was..." Karen began as she spoke with Margot, allowing Sophie and Cindy to sneak past and peek into the main floor.

"Good Lord!" Sophie hissed quietly as she saw the large crowd of men and woman sitting at various tables and chairs in front of the stage. "This isn't good!"

"Yeah, there's gotta be like... Five hundred people in there!" Cindy whispered in shock.

"Three hundred ninety-seven, actually." Sophie corrected. At seeing the look on Cindy's face, she said, "I've always been good at those 'How many marbles are in the jar' games. But that's not important! Carol can't play with herself in front of these people!"

"I know! That's why we're gonna try to stop this bitch and save her!"

"No, I mean she literally won't be able to even if she wanted." Sophie explained, "Carol is fine on stage for a group of people, but if the maximum capacity is above one hundred fifty, she gets major stage fright! She won't be able to even move after she takes one step on that stage!"

"Huh. You know, Carol doesn't strike me as someone with stage fright. And I guess the whole 'Imagine the audience naked' trick doesn't work in your time, right?"

"Nope, and she gets it real bad! Why, I remember when Carol got the lead role in her college play. She took one look at the full auditorium, and -"

"HEY!"

Sophie and Cindy turned around to see an angry Margot glaring at them.

"So, you thought you'd be able to sneak in, huh?!" Margot yelled as she grabbed the two by the wrists and brought them over to Karen. "Not on my watch! You three are just lucky I'm too cheap to hire a bouncer."

"Fine, we'll just purchase the tickets." Karen said, not wanting this to escalate as she pulled out her wallet. "How much are they?"

"One hundred grand." Margot replied, causing Karen's jaw to drop.

"In total?!"

"Each."

"Look!" Sophie snapped, "That 'brainless wacko' you hired is my big sister! And I will not stand for you taking advantage of her good and big hearted nature just to make a quick buck in your disgusting business!"

"Oh, so you're her sister?" Margot asked with a laugh before grinning evilly. "That changes everything..."

"AND STAY OUT!" Margot shouted as she tossed the three out a side door into the alley, slamming it shut.

"No! No! No! CAROL!" Sophie shrieked as she pounded on the door.

A while later, Margot had locked the front doors and entered the main room as the crowd went wild.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Margot called out into her microphone. "Welcome to Ms. X's X-Treme XXX Fun Times! I'm your host: The lovely Ms. X! I hope you're prepared for a good one tonight, folks! Because our new girl is... Well, she's something, alright. Please, put your hands together for the debut performance of... 'Crystal Tempest: Time Cop'!"

Margot stepped to the side of the stage as the audience went wild, the curtain raising and revealing a beach backdrop. Carol, dressed in her Stripper Cop uniform, walked onto the stage with her eyes closed.

"That's right, Alpha Centauri Eight! I tracked the perpetrator to this ancient nudist resort. Unfortunately, I have to follow their customs to continue my search. So, I..." Carol finally opened her eyes and squeaked at the sight of the crowd, "I... I... I..."

The crowd muttered quietly with one another as Carol stood their like a deer in the headlights.

"What the hell is she doing?!" Margot hissed through her teeth, feeling her eye beginning to twitch as her blood began to boil.

"This is all my fault!" Sophie whimpered, tears running down her face. "If I had just ignored what those asses said about my body, Carol wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Don't worry, Sophie. We'll get her out of this, I promise." Cindy assured. "We just have to think of some way to -"

*CRASH*

The three jumped as they looked over to the left, seeing a trash can knocked over and a skunk foraging through it.

"Please not again. Please not again!" Karen whimpered, "Cindy and I have been sprayed by a skunk one too many times today. And we still have the stink on us!"

"Is that what that smell is?" Sophie asked with disgust. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she saw Cindy and Karen's reaction to the skunk before looking at the skunk itself. After looking towards an open window that was much too small for the three to fit through, she looked back to the skunk as the wheels in her head began turning.

"Guys..." Sophie said, getting the attention of Cindy and Karen. "It might be a bit risky, but I think I've got a plan..."