Yotsuba Island. Nicholas was a little surprised by how things had changed since he was here last. When he was last here, there had been marine's all over the place, and even the people seemed afraid of them. Now, well, there were still plenty of marines around, but this time the atmosphere seemed much, much lighter. The people were happier, seemingly more welcoming. Hell, he was discovered that the marines were doing recruitment drives in the town. And more surprisingly, people were eagerly joining. A little bit of information gathering had revealed that the corrupt marines that had once dominated the island were beaten and placed under arrest. Some commodore called croy or something. Apparently it had restored people's faith a little, and when he opened up the opportunity for the people to take part in the island's protection, they were glad to jump on the chance. It was kind of a heart warming story. Even though, as a pirate, he was an enemy of the marines, it was good to see that they were willing to protect the innocent.

Not to mention this gave Nicholas a golden opportunity. While he had established contacts on two islands now, now was the chance to get an contact somewhere in the marines themselves. With all the people signing up, it shouldn't be too hard to find someone willing to part with some information. And what better place to look, than where the recruitment was going on. As he found one of the buildings, he could see a small line of hopeful applicants. Man,  there really were a lot of hopefuls here weren't there? Looking around, he spotted a potential candidate, a skinny young man with messy brown hair. With a small smile and a swagger, he approached the young man, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Signing up huh?" the man blinked and nodded. "Y-Yeah." "Wonderful!" he smiled, before leaning in and speaking in a low tone, "Have I got a proposition for you. Would you care to talk over there, out from prying eyes?" he gestured his head towards a nearby alleyway.

"You want me to what!? the young man almost yelled out. Hell, if Nicholas hadn't managed to shush him in time, he might have done just that. The two were standing off to the side, in an alleyway not far from the recruitment table. "Yes, it's exactly as I said," Nicholas replied, "I want you to act as my spy in the marines. Give me any interesting little tidbits of information that might pop up." the young man looked unsure, shaking his head. "We're trying to make the marines LESS corrupt here, and you're asking me to do what those no good bastards from before did?

Nicholas scoffed. "Of course not! I'm not asking you to torture to execute random people. I'm not asking you to terrorize people on my behalf. All I want is a little bit of information, that's all." He draped a friendly arm over the young man's shoulder. "You see buddy, my friends and I, we just want to be free. We don't want to pillage or rape or murder anybody. However, the marines still want to hunt us down because we're pirates, no matter what crimes we haven't committed. Can you believe that? All I want is some information to ensure my friends' safety, that's all. I'm not asking you to sell out your friends or get them killed or anything." Nicholas smiled and leaned in. "Besides, hadn't the marines made your life hell up to this point? Even with them changing for the good, a little payback is in order, am I right?"

The young man thought about. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to let a couple of things slip though." "Attaboy!" Nicholas laughed, patting him on the back, "You'll see. This will be for the best. You're helping more people, and you're getting paid a little extra. It's win/win!" He glanced over at the nearby recruitment table. "Now, to get you into the marines, and I know just the way to give you a good first impression."

The marine recruitment desk was surprisingly peaceful, going through recruitment smoothly with surprising numbers. However, things were about to take an interesting turn as suddenly a shout erupted from a nearby alleyway. "Pirate!" All eyes turned as Nicholas was thrown from the alleyway, tackled to the ground by a scrawny young man. Both men struggled on the ground before Nicholas managed to break free and suddenly dashed off down the street. "After him!" shouted the recruiter as the two marines who had been on guard suddenly took off in a run after him. Everyone was backing off as the chase suddenly rounded a corner and all three men vanished.

The recruiter got up and walked over to the disheveled young man. "That was a brave thing you did. What's your name?" the young man looked up at him. David Tells sir," he replied. The marine nodded and smiled. "Tell me young man, have you ever thought about a career in the marines? We can use brave men like you." David could only smile.

Meanwhile, Nicholas was once again drawing the attention of every marine on the island. He had used his Jet Dial to get atop one of the buildings and was running from rooftop to rooftop, pursued by a growing group of marines below. The wily pirate smiled as he suddenly pulled out his Thunder Dial and took aim. The burst of lightning struck the pavement in front of the charging group, causing them to slide to a stop. Nicholas took the opportunity to duck out of sight, dashing across a couple of more roofs before slipping down onto the streets and kept on running towards the dock. He had a small boat there, which he would use to get off the island.

Hopefully, that little act would get Nicholas some more notoriety, as well as get his little buddy a spot in the marines. A win/win situation if he should say so himself.