Arc 4: Pillage: Part 1

"I think he pointed in that direction." Said one prisoner pointing off into the distance.

"I think he pointed directly behind me, so we should go in that direction." Said another pointing at himself, or more accurately, through himself.

Several small scale fights began breaking out among the prisoners while they argued over what direction Keystone pointed in. I myself was keeping quiet about it because I wasn't even remotely aware of what way the town was. My attention was quickly drawn to a group of prisoners creating a lot of drama.

One prisoner raised his hand and said, "I have evidence that proves Keystone was pointing in this direction. Take This! Keystone's Footprints! They're pointing in the direction of that birch tree over yonder. When someone points, it's only natural they they point directly forward. Thus, by reason of deduction, the way to town is past that birch!"

That sounds about right. I step up to the group who appear alarmed at my approach. Placed conviently near them are two stumps, one taller than the other. I take a seat on the shorter stump and use the taller stump as a kind of table. I slam my fist on the stump a few times loudly to get their attention.

"Alright. What you've said makes sense... what's your name?" I ask the speaker.

He coughs and introduces himself. "My name is Dull sir. Straight Dull, former lawyer."

I nod. "Alright Dull. What you said makes sense. I guess we will get everyone to go in the direction of the white birch-"

"OBJECTION!" Someone called out, interrupting me.

I turned to look at the man who shouted out. He was a tall prisoner with black hair that seemed to lack any rigidity whatsoever. I growled out, "And who might you be?"

All of the gusto he displayed when he shouted out suddenly wilted. He scratched the back of his neck nervously and said, "Sorry sir. I got caught up in the moment. My name is Royal Flop, another former lawyer."

"I'm detecting a theme going on here. What's up with all the lawyers?" I ask.

"Allow me to explain sir." Dull speaks out.

Flop groans, "Oh great. Exposition. I hate exposition."

I slam my fist on the stump. "Quiet! If I want exposition, I'm going to get my exposition! Even if I don't exactly know what exposition is, I still want it explained to me! Dull, please continue."

"Allow me to spell it out for you."

"I can't read. Just explain it."

He clears his throat and begins to speak, "Four months ago, the Yonko Kaido of the Beasts, attacked a Marine stronghold from within. He had planted an undercover agent who opened the gates and allowed his forces to invade and take what they wanted. In response, the World Government went on a man hunt and arrest anyone who was suspected of working for him. The basis for the arrests? They were based on how much defiance the suspected showed when arrested and what their names were. Flop and myself are examples of that and we were arrested."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "By name? what do you mean by that?"

He continued, "Most of Kaido's subordinates have names in a theme related to cards. Both 'Straight' and 'Flop' are terms found in the card game Poker. So both of us were arrested for that reason alone. Atop of that, we are both lawyers. It's in our nature to argue for one reason or another. The two of us and several other lawyers with card themes in our names were sent to Impel Down for that reason."

"Wow." I said honestly. "That sounds stupid. Stupid all around really. It's stupid to arrest people on their names alone, and it's stupid to argue with someone arresting you and possibly sending to jail if you argue."

"Mistakes were made." Dull says agreeing.

Flop seems agitated and starts slapping the back of a piece of paper he found loudly, drawing my attention. "Can we please move on to why I interrupted you please? It's rather important."

"Sorry. Go ahead now." I apologize and tell Flop.

He smiles and crosses his arms. Then he suddenly uncrosses them and begins to wave his finger in the air. "There was a contradiction in what you said Dull!"

Dull, and every other prisoner who is listening to me gasps in surprise. I raise an eyebrow and say, "Oh? A contradiction you say? Please explain Flop."

"Dull. You said that it's natural for someone to point directly forward in front of themselves and that's correct. What's incorrect is that you said Keystone was pointing in the direction of the birch tree!"

More gasps follow and I watch in silence as Flop walks to where Keystone stood when he pointed in the direction of town. He grabs a nearby prisoner and places him directly inside Keystone's footprints.

"May I ask your name?"

The prisoner he grabbed looks agitated and replies, "They call me White Coal, cause I'm all burnt out."

"Mr. White Coal, I've placed you directly in Keystone's footprints. Can you verify that for me?"

White Coal looks down briefly, then says, "Yah. I'm where he stood."

"Now, will you please point directly in front of yourself and tell everyone what you're pointing at."

White Coal grumbled and does as he's told. "I'm pointing at that yew tree over there that looks like it got struck by lightning. The birch y'all were yapping about earlier is way off to the left."

Flop smiles. "Thank you White Coal. As you can see, this proves that Keystone was pointing at the yew tree and that is the direction we should go!"

I let out a few short claps.

"Alright. You have me convinced."

I stand up and dust my pants off. Then, a vauge memory comes back to me unexpectedly.

I hold up my fist and point it at the yew tree. Then I use my pinky and pointer fingers to point at it.

"Let's go and fuck up everything in that general direction."

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