The story continues.
Chapter Three
Reassemble
(Calamari County)
Marie looked at her sleeping cousin, unimpressed. Once, she would sleep in and Callie would wake her up, but now the roles were reversed.
Because of Cap'n Cuttlefish's death, the two Squid Sisters had moved back to Calamari County for a new life. For the last few years, they had
resurrected the Squid Sisters and their fame had grown. They weren't supposed to make any new CDs right now, and the soonest concert was
still months away, but Marie was still peeved that her cousin was sleeping in on a Monday.
"Callie, get up." A soft moaning sound came from the bed. Marie sighed, then left the room. Callie peeked out from under the covers, then went
back to sleep, thinking she'd won. Marie came back in holding an airhorn. Aiming it at what she assumed was Callie's head, she set it off. Callie
jumped out of bed in surprise, hitting her head on the floor. "Ow..." She glared at her cousin. "Damn it, Marie..." The grey Squid Sister simply
lowered the airhorn. "Now you know how I felt."
Marie's phone gave off a text alert. She checked it. "What?" Callie faced her. "What is it?" Marie looked at her. "It's Sarah. She found the Time
Stone. C Group has decided to recollect the Stones to use them to bring Cassandra back." Callie gasped. "Where did she find it?" Marie sent the
question to her. When she received the response, she read it. "'Octo Canyon. Was there thinking about the NSS. Found the Stone in the cabin.'
That means at least some of the Stones are in other Octarian settlements."
Callie looked at the phone. Another message came through. "She wants to resurrect the NSS to bring Cass back." Callie looked at Marie. "Should
we help?" Marie shrugged. "Not like we've got anything to do for a while. Have you kept tabs on all the former Agents?" "Liz and Greg got married
a year after Cass's death, Off the Hook is still going strong in Inkopolis, Sarah's in Inkblot Art Academy, Clair and Chloe helped the rest of their
sisters settle into Inkopolis, and now they all live together,
Otis returned to Cirrina Countryside to take care of his grandfather, Mei and Guyver are professional Turf War players now. The only one that I
don't know about is Scott. Liz and Greg might know where he is, but I don't know." Marie nodded. "Let's find Sarah, and work from there."
(Former NSS Headquarters, a few days later)
Marie looked at C Group, who were looking at the Infinity Gauntlet that they'd recovered from Cass's shack. They would use the same Gauntlet to
snap the fingers and bring Cass back. "Okay. Well, since we're resurrecting the NSS, we need to bring every Agent here. Sarah, were you able to
get in touch with Otis?" Sarah nodded. "He'll be here tonight." Marie nodded. "Now... What about Off the Hook?" Clair faced her. "I got in touch
with Marina. They can help, but only for a few days."
Marie nodded. "That's good enough for me. What about Mei and Guyver?" Sarah spoke up. "I haven't talked to Guyver about this yet. He wasn't
home when I woke up this morning." Marie nodded. "Text him and see how he replies." Sarah sent the text, and faced Marie. "It might take a few
minutes." Marie nodded. Facing Clair, she said, "You and Chloe go to Liz and Greg, see if you can convince them to help us." She nodded. The two
Octolings left, and Marie looked at Sarah. "I don't suppose you know where Scott is?"
Sarah shook her head. "Liz said she'd keep in touch with him." Her phone buzzed. Checking it, she smiled. "He and Mei are on their way over.
Should be here in ten minutes." Marie nodded. "Now, we wait for Clair and Chloe to find Liz and Greg."
(Southern Inkopolis)
Liz walked outside towards a tent in their yard. "Lunch time!" A little Inkling girl popped her head out. Liz smiled at her daughter. "Come on,
Cassie, time to eat." "Okay, mommy." She scooped her daughter up, and got ready to take her into the house for lunch, when she saw a car
driving up. Clair and Chloe stepped out. Liz cocked her head, curious. Looking at her daughter, she said, "Why don't you go help daddy set the
table? I'll be in in a minute."
Clair watched Liz's daughter go into the house, and took note of Liz walking up to her. "Haven't seen you guys in a while." Clair nodded.
"Congratulations on your daughter, Liz." Liz simply smiled, and said, "We named her Cassandra. After everything that happened, I couldn't stay
mad at her." Clair nodded. "We have a chance to bring her back. Sarah found the Time Stone, and we think we can find the rest of the Stones,
and use them to bring her back."
Liz faced her in amazement. "The NSS is reborn?" Clair nodded. Liz sighed. "I'll have to talk to Greg about it. I wouldn't mind helping you out, but
I can't do something like this without talking to Greg about it first." Clair nodded in understanding. Liz handed her something. "I'll let you know
what he says." Greg spoke up. "Oh, I have no problem with it." They faced him. "Yes, I was listening." He walked over. "Cassie has always wanted
to meet her namesake. This is the only way we could do that."
Clair nodded. "We also need Scott. Do you know where he is?" Greg nodded. "He works at Inkopolis Beach as a lifeguard. I texted him while you
were talking. He's off for the next few days and said he could meet us at HQ." Clair answered, "When everyone is gathered, we can start
brainstorming about the Stones."
(NSS HQ)
Marie faced the entire Splatoon, and spoke up. "Okay. With the Time Stone in our possession, we can use it to track down the signals for the
other Stones. We have the how. Now we need the where. Before we use the Stone to scan for the signals, we need to brainstorm possible
locations for the Stones. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones." Callie spoke up. "Or
substitute the word 'encounter' for 'nearly been killed' by one of the six Infinity Stones."
Cassie spoke up. "I haven't. I don't even know what we're talking about." Everyone chuckled. Marie faced her. "That's okay. You don't have to do
anything right now." Facing the Agents again, Marie continued. "Let's start with the Soul Stone. Clair, what do you know?" Everyone faced the
Octoling, who had fallen asleep out of boredom. Callie spoke up. "Is she asleep?" Cassie spoke up. "No, I think she's dead." Chloe gently nudged
Clair, waking her up. "Huh? Wha-?"
Chloe faced her. "The Soul Stone?" Clair sighed. "Right." Standing up, she faced everyone. "Okay, the Soul Stone. Where to begin? Um... It only
appears to someone who has lost at least one person that they love. I was actually in love with Harold, so that caused the Soul Stone to appear
to me. Um... If anywhere, it might be in Octo Valley?" They all nodded. "It's possible." Clair sat back down as Marie spoke up again. "Now, the
Space Stone. We know Cass took it from Commander Sieg."
Chloe spoke up. "Well, that one might be in Octo Gorge." Marie nodded. "Okay, the Power Stone. Cass found it on Mt. Nantai, so it's reasonable to
assume she hid it there." Sarah stood up. "The Reality Stone is an interesting topic. We know she got it from Commander Traeger in Octo Canyon,
but I found the Time Stone there, and Cass wouldn't put two Stones in the same place. So it might be in Octo Ravine?" Everyone nodded. Clair
sat up. "The Mind Stone is a birthright of the royal family, but Octavio's son died years ago, and his daughter-in-law went missing."
Everyone thought that over. "Maybe Grandpa knows where she is. He's been spending a lot of time at his cabin a couple miles away from Dad's
house." Sarah faced him. "Think you can ask him?" Otis nodded. "Shouldn't be that hard." Marie set up the device, and put the Time Stone into it.
The scan of the world showed a signal in Octo Valley, Octo Gorge, Octo Ravine, Mt. Nantai, and Cirrina Countryside. "Okay, we need five teams.
Agent 8, take Agents 5 and 6 to Mt. Nantai. Find the Stone there."
Facing Clair, she said, "You and your sisters go to Octo Valley, see if you can find the Stone there." Facing Liz and Greg, she said, "You and Scott
head to Octo Gorge for that Stone." Facing Sarah, she said, "Take Agents 4.5 and 8.5 and go to Cirrina Countryside. Get the Stone there." Facing
Callie, she said, "Callie and I will go to Octo Ravine for that Stone." They all nodded. "Five years ago, we lost perhaps the greatest hero of our
age. Now, we get her back."
A/N
Things are getting spicy. Oh, wait, maybe it's the spicy chicken nuggets I've been cooking at work lately.