Sylvester Sweet was impressed, but not surprised that both Klinghoffer and Willow offered up their services in trying to locate the bomb. What did surprise him was that Willow referred to him as “captain.” It seemed that the young man had finally agreed to the invitation he’d extended back then. But, between Willow’s injuries and the looming threat of detonation, Sylvester knew it was no time for celebration. Instead he nodded along to Klinghoffer’s plan and watched him run off towards his section of the museum. 

“Stay inside the museum,” he advised Willow, “I’ll check the storage area and the canal, but before you leave for your part of the search, take this,” Sylvester handed the young man a sheer white handkerchief, “I got nothing to help you feel better, but I’ll be damned if you can’t look the part of a Six Barrel Pirate. Good luck, partner,” he tipped his hat with that and ran towards the storage area. 

Crashing through the door, he scrambled about the small space, looking through lockers and under tables and every conceivable space to find the device that would destroy the impeccable figures of art and history. But, from just his rushed check, Sylvester couldn’t find anything that remotely resembled some sort of bomb. Checking through the last gray metal locker, he slammed the small door shut, disappointed with the results. Unfortunately, he couldn’t even spare the time to be frustrated. He sped out of the storage area and headed towards the exterior of the museum through an emergency exit. 

But, still he nothing he could see looked unnatural or explosive. However, something did manage to catch his eye all the same. Coming across the canal was a small raft, pulled along by two feisty looking yagara bulls. A bulky man was holding onto their leather reigns while a pair of workers behind them worked to tie down some crates onto the meager vessel. But, sitting on top of the cargo was a slender woman, whose bright eyes met Sylvester’s for only a moment. She looked a bit timid, like the woman was holding back from saying something.

“It’s all tied down, Ms. Dufort! We’re good to go!”

The worker waited for a response, but Sylvester finally realized from where he remembered seeing that woman. It was Aya Dufort, the organizer of Pumpkin Sabbath, making her getaway through the canals of Water 7.

Willow was finishing psyching himself up for the purpose of handling a search for bombs. Klinghoffer offered that they all split up and search for the bomb(s) across the campus of the museum. Why did it have to be a time constraint challenge like this? He could only sigh and rub the back of his head with his free hand. His other hand holding onto Shepherd while the staff was folded up into a cane-length so he could lean on something other than his injured leg.

His declaration of Sylvester as captain got him orders to stay in the museum while following the order of Klinghoffer to continue searching for a bomb. But he got a white handkerchief from Sylvester before the captain went away. Willow just looked at the piece of cloth and called out to him just as he was pulling away, "The hell am I supposed to do with this?"

Whatever--best keep it on hand for now. He tucked it away into his baggy collar and turned about, breaking into a jog, a very, very awkward jog that revolved around swinging one leg around instead of using his knee to bent and that temporary cane being used as a support for the leg while he bounded about in the musuem. His search wouldn't yield any initial results. But he would come across something.

That something was a special powder keg pile set up underneath one of the largest statues of a man riding a seaking of all things. On the kegs was a transponder snail with a set of jumper cables lined up to it and the powder keg. The wires were rather long so it seemed to be a remote trigger with a delay.

Willow could only sigh and wonder if Klinghoffer or Sylvester could drop by to help him as he started to limp toward the statue, thinking he could try and climb up to get to the snail on the very top of the statue. Cutting the wires might trigger it and send him to kingdom come, and he wasn't ready to die just yet. No sir.

Klinghoffer searched the front exhibit all over, searching inside vases and under tables yet no sign of anything that even remotely resembled a bomb. "This is useless," The musician said as he sighed, "I'll go check up on Willow, maybe he's having a bit more luck than I am..." he ran through the first exhibit and gave the whole room one last look before he moved on to his crewmate's area. He rushed into the room to discover a limping Willow O. Omens staring over a large powder keg and transponder snail, They could've been a bit more imaginative with their bomb placement, uneducated revolutionaries.... Klinghoffer thought to himself as he ran up to his crew-mate and assessed the situation. The barrel was under an odd statue of a man riding one of those sea monsters he had encountered on the way to Water 7, Klinghoffer was no bomb expert but he could tell by the transponder snail and the cables leading from it to the barrel that there was some sort of remote action occurring, if only there was a way to sever the communication between the snail and the explosive in the form of cables...

"Let's handle this as rationally as possible okay? the best thing to do in this situation is to cut the connection between the two, there is no need for red wire or blue wire if we cut all the wires." Klinghoffer says along with a sagely nod, trying to lead to the best of his ability. He was planning on taking a huge risk with this so he signaled Willow to get a large amount of distance between himself and the bomb, now that the only life he had to worry about was his own he picked up the transponder snail from the bomb and moved it as far away as possible, leaving the cord that connected the explosive and the trigger exposed and safe to work on. He grabbed his guitar, Layla, off of his back and held it firmly in his grasp, preparing to start shredding the fretboard, despite all of his uneasiness his resolve to defuse the bomb came from his higher education. If the person wanted to make sure their bomb was not defuse-able then they would've made the explosive more complicated than what was in front of him, there may be a hell of a lot of powder but the contraption was as simple as it could get, just a snail and a long cord to connect it.

"Here goes nothing...." The musician said as he took a deep breath, adjusted his fingering on the neck of Layla then aimed at the cord. As both of his hands began to move, he played a groovy jam that consisted of blues in D, finishing it off with a Double Stop Destruction. The loud sound wave resonated through the air and cut through the cords of the explosive, Klinghoffer paused for a few seconds to see if any aftereffects would occur. He let out a loud sigh and relaxed his tensed muscles and what started as a small chuckle burst out into an infectious laugh. "Hahaha..... Now that the crisis has been avoided, what is Sylvester up to? I hope he didn't run into any bombs or other problems."

Sylvester Sweet didn’t hesitate once he’d heard the woman’s name. She looked plenty aggravated that her identity had been screeched out to the world, but the cowboy couldn’t be happier. Assuming his crew had succeeded inside the museum, then all he had to do was halt the ringmaster here and they might be able to make this look like a success after all. Running from across the stone around the museum, he caught quite a bit of attention from onlookers, and earned even more when he leapt off the walkway and onto the small craft, rocking it back and forth.

“Get those bulls moving, Butch!” Aya Dufort yelled out to the man with the reins, “Deal with this party crasher here!” Her second command came accompanied with some very rude gestures at her other goons, who nodded and picked up some long trident weapons, forming a semicircle around the cowboy. The trio closed in, but Sylvester didn’t panic, and instead steadied his breathing against the approaching attack. He closed his eyes for an instant to collect his thoughts, and one of Dufort’s men saw that as an invitation to attack. 

His trident slipped right by Sylvester’s torso, missing so wide that even the pirate’s jacket was untainted by its sharp points. Another thrust followed the first for it to be ducked and the last attack came right towards Sylvester, thinking the three strikes had trapped the man. But, at astounding speed, he leapt upwards and kicked the trident back down into the raft, dodging every one of the attacks. Sylvester dashed weaved his way between the three and jumped up towards their boss, pointing Trust down at the lady, who yelped in fear. 

“Might wanna halt this wagon ride,” Sylvester said with a grin, pulling back the hammer of his revolver. “I’m a little insulted this was all the men you brought to defend yourself Ms. Dufort. Now say goodbye to your treasure trove.”

The woman was practically in tears at the threat, shaking wildly about and saying, “Wait! Wait! Wait! Please, take whatever you want! I’m not her! Just a decoy please! We didn’t even get any of the good stuff! Please, don’t hurt me!”

Sylvester furrowed his brow, thinking the claim just another trick. He kept the weapon trained on the woman, but looked more closely at the pile of goods on the craft. Hardly any of it was real, this woman, whether she was Dufort or not, clearly didn’t have much of anything important with her at all.

Haki & Skills:

Willow was happy to have Klinghoffer arrive on the scene. While Willow was busy trying to disarm the snail, or find a way to keep it from waking up to transmit the call and activate the bomb, Klinghoffer saw fit to destroy the wires outright! Now, normally that would be a good idea, if it weren't such a bad idea. You never cut the wires without knowing what the hell you are doin-welp he's going to do it anyways.

"What? Wait--Klinghoffer!" Willow said with a pained voice only for the musician to do his thing regardless with enough time for Willow to get out of the way. He expected a boom, he expected to be dead. But when the bomb didn't go off, Willow was left standing there, two arms cast over his head in the hopes to try and keep himself from being blown up somehow. But of course, the bomb was perfectly fine.

Instantly, Willow took his weapon and folded it into its storage from and threw it at Klinghoffer's noggin. If it hit it would bounce off and leave a bruise but no blood or severe damage would happen. It was thrown with the purpose of getting his attention. "You bubbling buffoon! You could have blown us up! What were you thinking?!" It was very out of character for Willow, who's teeth were now jagged and shark like with his mouth wider than it should have been, eyes pointed out of his skull like cones as he glared at Klinghoffer, animated like a cartoon in this moment before he returned to normal.

Willow would limp away to go get his weapon wherever it landed, his right hand clutching onto his left ribs, right eye winced shut as the pain of his encounters so far were catching up to him. Klinghoffer suggested that they go find their captain, and Willow was inclined to agree, were he not sitting down on the floor now, head lowered down while he was drifting off to unconsciousness, mumbling a response to Klinghoffer.

"Yeah--good plan--just give me a moment." He needed someone to grab him and help him along the way, meanwhile the voice from his headphones was shouting and trying to keep Willow awake and coherent. Willow was stubborn and could resist a lot of pain, but even he had his limits. If only there were a way to resist this pain easier. Though, that yelling voice from his headphones was enough to keep him from going away, though it would only be heard by Willow, Klinghoffer would only hear the mumbling Willow.

Klinghoffer stared at his fellow pirate as he hobbled off only speaking in what he could make out as mumbling gibberish, he followed his hobbling friend as he tried to make his way out, his head slowly falling lower and lower as if he was losing consciousness. "Hey uh... You okay bud?" The musician questioned as he walked up to the mumbling bard and holding him up straight. "Look, man, we don't have time for a doctor, let's go find cap" The musician said as he pulled Willow along with him into the staff only area, he checked around, looking down the stairs and around the room but there was no sight of Sylvester. The only tracks they had were the shouting and loud noises they heard from outside, Klinghoffer slowly and reluctantly helped his comrade through the room and out of the museum into the cold night. With the bomb defused and everybody safe, he believed that they could all just round up some loot from this shit show and make their merry way the fuck out of there, or so he thought. As the two walked out, their attention snapped onto the cowboy pirate who had his mighty revolver of justice aimed directly at a whimpering woman who burst out in tears crying for mercy, the two standing with 3 bodies around them on the floor.

"Uhhhh listen, I'll give you a few seconds to explain what the hell you're doin' to this fine young lady" Klinghoffer says in a smooth and calm tone as he lets go of Willow and walks up to the edge of the dock and leaps onto the sea vehicle, rocking it slightly. The musician clearly knew this woman from somewhere, one of his shows? Or one of the many faces on his captain's board of enemies in Water 7....No it was neither of those, he had seen this woman just the day before as he was finishing up in the VIP room of Funky G's Groove Central after one of his shows. She was sitting in a velvet booth along with another shady woman who struck a mighty fine resemblance to the woman in question, Klinghoffer recalled a name that showed up just a few moments ago and back at Groove Central, Aya Dufort. After recalling the past conversation that was cried out for all to hear as Willow and himself arrived on the scene, all the gears clicked in his head and he decided to get the ball rolling. "Ahhh I get it now..." The malevolent musician remarked with a wide grin as he stepped closer to the alleged Ms Dufort, now invading her personal space and getting almost as close to her face as Sylvester's gun. "Well, if I call correctly Miss Sandy Rickshaw, the very same Miss Sandy Rickshaw who met with crime lord Aya Dufort in the VIP room of a respectable establishment to plan a certain distraction that was supposed to go down right around....I don't know, now maybe? So please tell me, Miss, where is the real deal?" Klinghoffer was surprised at the words coming out of his mouth, as if he wasn't even the same person, maybe that weird fruit had something to do with it.

Sylvester Sweet might’ve asked the pair of pirates whether or not they completed the task he’d asked of them. He definitely would’ve liked the peace of mind of knowing that precious museum was safe and sound, but just from their presence there, he was sure they hadn’t let him down. It was a reassuring kind of peace to know their success without asking. He was afraid mentioning the subject might actually do away with that feeling, and simply focused his interest on Klinghoffer’s conversation with Sylvester’s current target.

If she was frightened before Miss Sandy Rickshaw, as Klinghoffer had introduced her, was terrified when her identity was exposed. With the new information they’d attained, it seemed it wouldn’t be much of a hassle to track down the real Aya Dufort and put a stop to her schemes. With that, the mess in the museum’s basement might not be as much of a waste as it might otherwise.

Sylvester opened his mouth to explain their next object when he turned his attention more keenly to his new crew mates, and most especially the newest member of the crew. Willow looked absolutely ragged and worn. The events of the day had not been kind to the young man. On his person, Sylvester even caught sight of the white handkerchief he’d been given. Sylvester felt absolutely mortified in looking at the difference between the pirate the paltry piece of cloth he held. To have thought all Willow would need was to made more presentable to be better. In reality, the guy probably needed urgent medical care at the very least. Sylvester’s handkerchief looked like an insult on Willow.

“Well partners, it seems Ms. Dufort has escaped our grasp for the day,” Sylvester declared, holstering his revolver. He deftly stepped off the raft, rubbing his chin absent-mindedly. “We’ll have to pony up and run down that woman at a later date I suppose,” he nodded. “For now, I think I’ll be taking little catnap back at the ship,” he lied. “Nice work today,” the cowboy said with a tip of his hat, “It’s a pleasure to have you aboard,” Sylvester gently patted Willow’s shoulder.

Sylvester began to saunter away from the scene, only glancing back to take stock of the museum in absolute shambles. Despite the mess, the cowboy couldn’t help but feel he’d done right in one way or another.

-exit Sylvester-

Willow had been slipping in and out of it, consciousness that is, his head nodding and bobbing as if he were trying to keep himself from nodding off for forty winks. Thankfully, Klinghoffer was able to help him along and through the museum to find Sylvester. Willow was set off to the side to sit down and wallow in his pain for a hot minute while SYlvester was holding someone at gunpoint and Klinghoffer was trying to dissuade the situation into something more favorable than murder.

He wasn't really aware of what happened, but he knew he needed a short rest. A small respite. A breather. Thankfully it seemed he would be getting just that. They had managed to keep themselves from being overcome by the Yulkan Weaponsmiths, even getting a pass to retreat just this once. Now they had a chance to improve themselves. But the other side of the coin meant that they were going to have some people getting stronger just to beat them as well. It was a bittersweet victory.

Willow managed to get a devil fruit, Klinghoffer managed to get a devil fruit, Sylvester managed to give someone a handkerchief. It was a good day right? They could get going now and get to recuperating! Willow especially all things considered. He was so out of it he didn't even notice when Sylvester approached, only reacting when a hand was put on his body.

"Oh hey boss. I'm gonna need to rest for a few days." He looked a lot worse than he was. Most of the cuts on his body superficial, but the trauma inside would leave him with some lasting pain for several days, like his organs had gotten bruised or something. Sylvester turned to walk out, and Willow looked to Klinghoffer, holding out a hand as if to ask for help getting up.

When Willow was helped up to his feet, he would start to walk out with Klinghoffer and SYlvester, an official member of the Six Barrel pirates now, and a holder of one of the super powers of the world. Things were honestly looking up for Willow no matter how he looked at it. Minus the whole, you know, getting molly-whopped with a hammer earlier.

[Exit Willow]

His two friends immediately packed up just as the party was just getting good, there was no way that Klinghoffer could just give up on something that easily, "Well now it's just the two of us now ain't it? What do you say about having a nice little chat?" The musician said to the woman, but he remembered that he had a job to do, he can't just leave Willow for dead. "Ugh meet me at Groove Central sometime, I'm here all week" he sighed then walked over to Willow and picking him up once more. "Let's get you all cleaned up yeah?" Klinghoffer spoke to his new crewmate in a soothing tone as he walked him off of the scene, this ended their escapade called Pumpkin Sabbath, both the musician and the cowboy weren't as hurt as their friend but were visibly exhausted from the respective fights they each triumphed in. He clearly had unfinished business with that woman that they left back at the canal but there was nothing he could do, Willow needed medical assistance and going to a hospital was out of the question for pirates like them.

Only one person came to mind when Klinghoffer needed anything medical done, Mai. The pair of beaten up pirates cleanly transitioned between the streets of the business district to the grimy alleys of the slums, having an easy time getting through the streets due to how roughed up they already looked. Especially the dark look on the musician's face as he carried his friend along until they reached a large door, a door that was a symbol of comfort to Klinghoffer and a place that put him at peace. "You seriously need to stop coming to me like this- Oh my god is he okay?!" Mai questioned as she rushed out the door and held Willow on the other side, the two bringing him inside and laying him down on her makeshift doctors table. Klinghoffer was reluctantly forced to leave the room, he sat down on a couch where he once sat with Mai, this time more melancholy than happy. "What is happening to me?" The musician spoke to himself as he stared down at his hands which emitted a dark glow, his thoughts were almost not his own. Scared at what was becoming of himself he grabbed a pair of gloves that were lying around, putting them over his hands to hide the monstrosity.

Klinghoffer walked out of the house without letting anyone know, he couldn't get Mai involved in his own problems, the woman from the canals still stuck in his mind along with dark thoughts of what he could do to extract the information out of her, she held the answers to the location of somebody who knew what the hell was happening to him. Arriving at the focal point of his life, Funky G's Groove Central he skipped the line out front and nodded at the bouncer who immediately let him in. Bursting into the club he pushed his way through the dancing patrons and drunks and making his way to the VIP room where his eyes came across the same woman from the canals and the same shady woman talking to her, the shady woman got up and fled the scene as soon as Klinghoffer entered, but his eyes were too fixed on the woman from the canal to notice the actual Aya Dufort leave. He approached the booth and grabbed her arm, stopping her from being able to leave, "Let's start where we left off huh? We are going to have a Hell of a good time..." he threatened with a huge devilish grin that went from ear to ear.

- Exit Klinghoffer -