Wealth, Fame, and Power! W. D. Gaster, The King of The Pirates, had all those and the rest of what the world had to offer! Through many battles and trials, he had reached the pinnacle of the world's virtues and had nothing left but an illness that plagued him.
He brought himself in and was held at a worldwide public execution. Before he was executed, a man from the crowd asked:
"Where did you hide all your treasure?!"
To which the King of Pirates smiled and said:
"You want my treasure? You can have it! I left the most important treasure in the world on an island! Go and find it! 'For the next pirate that finds the UnderPiece, will be claimed the new King of The Pirates!"
Those were his final words before he was executed. He smiled to his death.
With those words, the world was flipped upside down as he created The Golden Pirate Era! People and already existing pirates from around the works started to sail the seas in search of the treasure that W. D. Gaster claimed to be-
The UnderPiece!
It had been Twenty Years since, and people have yet to find the treasure he was talking about. Except for one girl, who is now going to change the world by storm for the sake of her people.
This is the story of Muffet D. Baker and her way to becoming Queen of the Pirates!
BOOM!
.
BOOM!
.
BOOM!
"Gum Gum! Spider Zeplin!" Muffet inflated herself to redirect the cannonballs back to the ships that fired them.
Susie was batting the cannonballs away from the ship before they could do anything fatal to the ship. Undyne was providing a counterfire using her spears and bidents.
"Damn! They really sent their whole calvary at us this time! Well I mean, compared to the usual amount." Undyne remarked.
They were being attacked by two Navy Warships and seven regular Navy Ships. It has been almost a week since their adventures at Yetera.
Susie had been training Undyne and Muffet on how to use their souls and how to train to use them wisely. She taught them that their souls were self replenishable as long as the circumstance you're in allows you to display the trait your soul has.
This is why Kindness required the user to be light-hearted. This is also why Muffet had a swelling amount of Perseverance and why her ability was a passive ability. Was because Muffet was constantly Persevering.
They had only been able to be able to fluently bring out the power of their souls without vial activation, although, the amount usage was something they had to work on. It was as if the amount they had couldn't keep up with their bodies.
Susie knew she had to work on Undyne a bit more since her soul didn't compliment her fighting style. Muffet seems to have her ability down-packed. She just needed to learn how to properly distribute it, Susie could use her ability indefinitely while Muffet and Undyne were tapped out of it after a minute of using it.
Four cannonballs were fired, she knew Muffet and Undyne were busy dealing with their own, and she didn't want to overwork Ralsei.
Ralsei was used to making a ship-wide bubble barrier in case some would sneak past them.
"Justice Form Number Five: Overrule!" Susie swung her hammer at all five cannonballs and they emitted with a yellow light. The cannonballs stopped in their place and she controlled them using her hand.
She projected her arm forwards and the cannonballs were sent towards four of the regular Navy Ships, dealing significant damage to them, but not quite sinking them.
Muffet and Undyne gave her a thumbs up.
Undyne could recognize that the one organizing this attack raid was a Vice Admiral.
They're upping the ante, aren't they? Guhehehe~ Undyne thought as she prepared herself for a tougher fight than she thought. Muffet still had her arms wrapped in her silk cast. They seemed like they would be a permanent thing to her now.
The Vice-Admiral seemed to carry a slick blade with a golden hilt and a black and red handle. He seemed to have a thick set of black hair that looked like it wasn't kept in years. He wore the Vice-Admiral uniform which was the usual white and blue striped suit with the badges on his chest. Definitely not someone to laugh at. They had to work hard for this victory.
Muffet turned to her first mate.
"So dearie~ That's one of those Vice Admiral's right? If you don't mind, I'd want to test how strong they are for myself!" Muffet punched her fist together to get herself pumped up.
"Are you kidding? I wanna fight the guy too! Don't be a hog! We can't have an injured person fighting." Undyne spoke those words in a way to rub them in her face.
Muffet grew angry, her eyes widened and she bared her fangs.
"Oh no, dearie~ That's a captain's order!" Muffet said with such suppressed bloodlust that Undyne didn't even want to contest that.
"Hmph! Fine! But I call dibs on the next guy." Undyne gave up on her battle with Muffet. Usually, she'd work a deal with her or maybe they'd work together giving each other back and forth quips and remarks. However, when she was like this, it was best you didn't continue your thought.
"Thanks, dearie~ I knew you'd understand." Muffet gave a sweet smile. She elegantly brushed aside her spider Onyx necklace and earrings and punched her fist together.
"However dearie~ You can meddle with the literal other eight ships around the left warship." She gave her first mate an eye of compromise. Undyne chuckled and launched a yellow bident, ricocheting off all the airborne cannonballs and providing an easy time for Ralsei and Susie.
"Fine, I guess! It'll be good stamina training." Undyne gave a toothy smile.
Muffet giggled and turned her head to Susie who was positioned on the mast.
"You have no objections either, right dearie~?" Muffet sweetly said.
Susie grinned and shook her head.
"No captain! I'll defend the ship with Ralsei, you can count on us...go kick some ass Undyne!" Susie replied with vigorous enthusiasm for her two front liners.
Undyne and Muffet hopped on the railing of the ship, the side where the navy ships were, but before they could jump off and have Muffet slingshot them to the ships, a giant beam wiped out one of the regular ships.
The cannons ceased fire.
"W-what was that?!" Ralsei yelled in fear, she was hoping that wherever that came from, they weren't next.
"Huhuhuhuhu! Don't rest your little goat head over it, my bro has it covered." Said a man in a really deep but relaxed voice.
Ralsei turned around and got scared, not by his presence, but by his appearance. He was a skeleton. She hadn't seen one before besides on the news...wait.
Susie heard Ralsei's yelp and turned to look at her.
She just did nothing but laugh to herself out loud.
Undyne turned around to see a short, white and blue skeleton walking their way with an eager and happy face. His face was lit up with immense feelings of joy, like a soldier coming home from years of war to see his kids for the first time. Undyne couldn't help but laugh, she knew who this guy was according to Muffet's stories of her childhood.
Muffet was still looking off the side of her ship, trying to figure out what happened.
The skeleton uninterruptedly walked up behind her. Fuhu was just panting from a distance, he liked a certain two skeletons.
"Is that any way to greet a new pal? Turn around...and shake my hand..." the skeleton muttered through his teeth.
Muffet's body perked up like she had been electrified and couldn't handle it. She knew that voice and that tone of voice. She started to swell up in tears.
Her eyes widened as her whole crew started to laugh at the situation. Even the skeleton laughed.
"C'mon Muffet, you're working me down to the 'bone'." The skeleton said as he place a hand on her lower right arm.
She turned around to see her brother, Sans.
Muffet was overwhelmed with so many emotions at the moment. She hadn't thought that she'd get to see one of her brothers so soon. She hadn't seen them for almost eight years, and to see him now was just astonishing to her. Part of her family was back with her and she was exhilarated. She wanted to do and say so much, but all she could muster was a super aggressive six-arm hug and twirl.
She shrieked in euphoria.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! Sans?! How are you, bro!" Muffet said as she twirled Sans in her arms, everyone flinched in a cringe as they never expected the word 'bro' to ever leave her mouth like that. It was unnerving.
"In the flesh...wait." Sans winked at her and she started to cry laughing. She missed his jokes, his puns always seemed to make her day.
"Hey, but don't give me all the credit. Look behind you." Sans said as she put him down to turn around to the ships. A tall and lanky skeleton jumped off of his horse skull at the side of the Warship. All the ships were in a horizontal line. He somersaulted in the air while winding up a kick.
His foot became engulfed in a flame, a supernatural one. Presumably a Devil Fruit ability.
"BOLOGNESE FLAMBE!" Papyrus shouted as a giant flame foot rammed through all nine of the Navy Ships, cleaving them in half and burning the ships as they sank. Papyrus landed the somersault back onto the horse skull and U-turned it to Muffet's ship.
Muffet's capacity of happiness just broke.
"PAPYRUS! BRO!" Muffet screamed while leaning over the railing, extending out all six of her arms to try and snatch him from the horse skull.
"MUFFET! SIS!" Papyrus screamed as he leaped off of the skull and smacked headfirst into Muffet, which in proxy, smacked into Sans and all three of them hit the mast. The vibration of the mast made Susie lose her balance and fall off it. Undyne caught her, but everyone was still amazed by Papyrus' feat.
Granted, they could've handled the ships themselves, but with the power and technique of Papyrus? They knew that the skelebrothers completely outmatched them. Undyne was eyeing down Papyrus specifically. He looked like a man that was a pristine warrior.
Muffet, Sans, and Papyrus just rolled over each other, crying and laughing and speaking incoherent gibberish that only the family could understand.
After a few more seconds, they all got up and started calming down. Undyne, Susie, and Ralsei approached the trio together. Fuhu was just running around their legs.
Papyrus noticed this.
"Aw! I see you kept Fuhumerus with you. I was worried about him!" Papyrus chirped.
The crewmates all choked on their spit. Its actual name was Fuhumerus?!
Sans turned to them as if reading their minds.
"Yeah, it took a 'few humorous' suggestions before coming to a conclusion." Sans gave them his trademark wink and they all facepalmed.
Susie was intrigued with the two skeletons.
"Hey so uh, what are your names, and if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" Susie was setting the boundary line already.
Sans and Papyrus stood side by side, saluted and bowed. Sans took off his hat with manners and placed it on his chest.
"We both are here under the noble orders of Toriel. We wish to have a word with Ms. Undyne Marie Undying!" Both Sans and Papyrus spoke in unison.
Everyone was shocked by this and gave Undyne some room, who was standing there pointing to herself.
"M-me? What does the leader of the Revolutionary Army want with me?" She questioned all of what was happening right now.
"As the Second In Command of the Revolutionary-" Sans started.
"And the Second Commander of the Underground Pirates...we are here to interview you!" Papyrus lifted his head to meet her, they were exactly the same height so eye contact was easy. However, his non-existent heart pumped when meeting eyes with her.
Undyne grinned while looking at his.
"You seem too nice to be a pirate, let alone a strong and ruthless one," Undyne said with a playful growl.
Muffet jumped up on Papyrus' back and he carried her.
"My bro is plenty strong! Being a second commander of an Emporer's ship is nothing to laugh at. My bro is amazing!" She said nuzzling herself on his spine.
"Yes, I, The Great Papyrus, am incredibly great! However, my chivalry is my top priority. It pays to stay humble." Papyrus spoke out in the third person, and it made her crewmates giggle. Undyne just crossed her arms.
"We'll have to spar one day, want to see how close endgame warriors fight!" Undyne growled at him, Papyrus just couldn't seem to get his eyes off her.
Sans intervened.
"Now now kids, we can have all the fun we want, we leave at dawn anyways. But, I'm here to do a job most importantly, first, the interview Ms. Undyne of the Soul Parlour Pirates." Sans said as he walked by Undyne with the vibe that he wanted her to follow him. She did as so.
Papyrus happily skipped behind them. They got to the door of the dining room. Sans turned around.
"You know, I need you too Muffet, since you're the captain, you have to take part in this...why not whip up some cookies, I've been missing the taste of your baking for almost eight years now." Sans gave a weak but honest smile.
Muffet stretched her arms to the port of the ship, where there was a purple shack.
Ralsei and Muffet had finished constructing the Parlour on the ship a day ago.
"Let's discuss it at the Parlour dearies~. Ralsei, Susie...would you mind heading to the lower decks for this, it's secret stuff." Muffet gave a weak smile of apology to her crewmates. They understood.
Susie walked Ralsei to the lower part of the ship. Where they would discuss more about Kris and Toriel's family from Ralsei's perspective and how cool Muffet's brothers were.
Undyne was calmly escorted by Sans and Papyrus, the lanky skeleton just kept on eyeing Undyne any free opportunity he could.
Her wet from the seawater and sweat-soaked crimson luscious hair, her fit, and strong blue skin. Undyne was caught in the middle of a three-person spar, so she wore her usual black sports bra with her long sleeve shirt tied around her waist. She was wearing her tight shorts and boots.
Papyrus just couldn't look away.
Muffet followed behind them with her three sets of arms behind her head, still incredibly happy she gets to see her skelebrothers. She wasn't the most presentable, it was only until after they left her on the island that she decided to wear more exposing clothing. Not because she was shameless, but because spiders usually like the environment touching their skin, it made spider people feel safer around them.
So the more exposed she was, the keener her senses became.
Right now she had dawned the vest that exposed her cleavage and midsections. Her sweats that she got from Yetera, and were barefoot. If she knew they were coming, she would've atleast worn an undershirt.
They all sat down at the mini spider parlor on the port. Its color pallet was purple with pinstripes of lavender purple. The inside of the Parlour was all of Muffet's baking equipment and ingredients, it seemed to work like a food vendor. She would behind the counter and make the pastries in front of the customers and they'd either eat it on the counter or just leave and eat it somewhere else, paying first of course.
She would try and make extra money for her crew by doing this on every island they go to.
Papyrus and Sans sat on opposite sides of Undyne, while Muffet was whistling to herself, wrapping the apron around herself, and started to get the batter making. She couldn't help but look at the destruction her youngest older brother made, a few marines survived and the Vice-Admiral was just standing on top of the broken mast that was drifting along the sea.
She could tell that he still wanted to fight, but not currently, the man was aware of who the two skeletons were and knew he better wait until they left before he would make a strike. She knew it was the best decision he could've made.
"So, Undyne...tell us about yourself," Sans spoke calmly and slowly as if he didn't want to upset her in the slightest. Undyne was already not comfortable, she was being lightly interrogated by two skeletons that were somehow beast of fighters.
"Uhm, well uh, my name is Undyne...Marie...Undying...as you already know so I don't know why I started like that hehe..." Undyne was embarrassingly nervous. A skeleton hand lightly grasped her shoulder.
"It's okay Undyne, no need to be so boondoggled! I, The Great Papyrus~ will make sure you stay as level-headed as possible!" Papyrus began to place both his hands on her shoulders, she felt an unusual amount of warmth from him doing that.
"...Thanks, man...okay, I'm the first mate and first commander of your little sister's crew, The Soul Parlour Pirates. We ride on this...time transcendent-? boat called The Field of Hopes and Dreams. It has been our first and only ship and the ship belongs to Ralsei our doctor of the ship...anything else you need to know sir?" Undyne remarked, she wouldn't be able to say all of that fluently without the touch of Papyrus, he really was a nice guy.
Sans chuckled.
"Nice to know, Toriel just needs to know why you switched from Navy Captain to Pirate commander." Sans was picking his teeth with his boney finger.
Muffet did a little giggle at his words, because she also knew the answer to that, for great reason.
Undyne sighed while tilting her head to the ground then at her captain.
Papyrus places his hand on her shoulder again. She like that feeling now. She took another deep breath.
She placed a hand on top of Papyrus' and he froze.
"Deep down I wasn't happy with the Marine life, but, I had to live up to my mom's expectations and I was bounded by a few Vice Admirals to stay there...I didn't feel safe, and I didn't feel right being there. Not to say I originally wanted to be a pirate either, I honestly would've chosen to be apart of the Revolutionary army if Muffet didn't come around and show me another way of living life." Undyne slowly spoke with more pride and a smile the more she got towards the end.
Muffet was stirring three bowls and at the same time, she just laughed to herself.
"We fought on my Navy Ship...needless to say, that she won, and promised my protection and care if I went with her. I sensed how much of a free-spirited soul and how much inner and outer strength she possessed, so I decided to hitch my entire future on her dreams. I haven't regretted my decision since...although I do want to apologize to Monster Kid. Probably hates my guts right now."
Undyne shook her head at herself and looked up at the pirate flag. The flag her captain wanted and Ralsei made, it waved in wind proudly. It made her want to stand proud too.
Sans jotted all of that down on a notepad.
"Alright...anything else like your goal now that you're here?" Sans somehow raised a brow even though he didn't have any. Undyne turned around to spot a noticeably exuberant skeleton that was...blushing? How the hell do skeletons even blush?
Undyne took her hand off Papyrus' hand and he shakily removed his. She would question that later.
"Well uh, my goal on this ship is to help my best friend captain on her dreams and then along the way accomplish my own of uh...will I be judged for my next words?" Undyne began sweating bullets, even knowing the existence of that wretched Jester demon, she still greatly feared these two skeletons.
Muffet put her batch of spider muffins in the oven and had leaned on the counter listening in-depth to the conversation.
Sans' right eye pupil disappeared, his left eye pupil turned into an actual yellow and teal eye, a raging gold flame was emitting from the eye and out of his socket.
" s..." Sans said with of voice of sudden and random intense levels of hatred and bloodlust. Undyne could've sworn this was the grim Reaper looming over her...again with that analogy! Why was she destined to have the same motif playing in her life?!
Undyne started sweating profusely and her body felt stiff, she clenched the stool she was on and slowly shrunk her body in fear.
Then, Sans snorted, followed by Papyrus giving a loud cackle. Muffet shortly followed with a laugh of her own. Undyne was confused.
"Ah man, got ya good. Don't worry you have immunity by the queen and a little bias from my little sis. What you say won't be held against you or prevented from happening. However, as The Lazy Judge, it makes me laugh whenever someone tells me to not judge someone...but yet again..." Sans started emitting a yellow aura.
"What kind of Justice is that...lazy Justice I presume," Sans said emitting the powerful wave of his soil's justice.
Sans was filled with...
Lazy Justice!
Undyne was relieved, she thought should have to fight her captains, two brothers, for her life. And she knew she wasn't winning. Maybe against the lanky one if it was a one on one and she managed to get her hands on a hefty Determination vial.
"Oh...hehehe...um, my goal is to kill all the Admirals...cause of what happened on Mt. Ebott." Undyne bluntly said. Sans just nodded and jotted it down in the notepad.
"It's reasonable why you would want to. You're a smart girl, you know how strong the Admirals are, do you think you'll be able to take them all on?" Sans gave her another impossible brow raise.
Undyne eagerly nodded.
"If my mom could, then I can!" She said while clamping her bicep to demonstrate her strength.
Papyrus chuckled.
"I like her Integrity! It's like mine, but not as cool, obviously!" Papyrus poses a little when he said that.
Muffet giggled.
"Watch out Papy, she's a feisty one! Everyone on my crew is, it's awesome! I love them all!" Muffet chirped before turning to her muffins that were almost done.
Sans closed his notepad.
"Well that concludes the interview, I guess we can spare the rest of the day here if you don't mind. I don't feel like traveling all the way back to the Grand Line just yet." Sans leaned back on his stool against the counter.
Undyne was just amazed that Muffet had just said that, she never spoke like that with her crew around. Was she secretly this childlike and femininely affectionate?
Papyrus was still trying to flex his bones as muscles and managed to smack Undyne on the back of the head with his elbow. This infuriated her and she got him in a headlock.
Papyrus tried getting out but his skeletal head wasn't budging through her tight muscles. Undyne felt this weird vibe with him like she could play around with him, he had an open and forgiving soul. Easy to talk to and easy to befriend, she immediately felt like they were already good pals.
"You gonna calm down with all the moving?!" Undyne yelled at the lanky skeleton with a smile. Papyrus drove her out of the seat and they started wrestling on the floor of the port.
Sans chuckled.
"I can't believe I'm seeing this with my own eyes...we're finally back together...even if it is for a short time. It feels right." Sans said propping both arms on the counter as he had his back facing towards it, he watched the wrestling match better like this. Muffet slowly gave him a plate with a big spider muffin and a cup of coffee.
"I know, it's been eight years, I missed you guys incredibly...I've managed to gather my little crew in such a short time and our crew's bounty is high for a rookie Ralsei says. Am I making you proud bro?" Muffet said leaning forward on the counter.
"You always make me proud sis, but be careful. There may come a time where your blitzing of the journey may cause you to fight someone ahead of your time. How will you handle that then?" Sans took a bite out of the muffin and he swore that if heaven existed, god would be handing out these muffins.
"Then I'll find some way to beat them, simple! So far there hasn't been a force that strong enough to separate us. We'll keep on going till we find the UnderPiece!" Muffet exclaimed while Sans shook his head and took a sip of the coffee, that too, tasted heavenly.
"That's what you say now, but take it from me, there are some true monsters out there in the New World...people with powers and strength of gods, all wanting to stop yours from proceeding. I've had to fight a few of those guys on a special mission...trust me, even someone as powerful as me wouldn't be able to stop most of the main threats out there...please Muffet, take care of yourself, and take your journey slow." Sans uncharacteristically said in a frown.
Muffet knew that he was dead serious.
"...Okay bro, heard ya loud and clear." Muffet just leaned over the table some more and saw Undyne and Papyrus still wrestling. Actually, it was more like Undyne practicing wrestling moves on Papyrus, there wasn't much fighting back on his part.
"Thank you...anyways I'd like to meet your other crewmates, and I want you to tell me the story about how you beat Bronzio, we've been trying to apprehend him for years now but with that whole island made of bronze, it was impossible." Sans ate the rest of the muffin in one bite and finished the coffee. Muffet took the plates to the sink in the corner.
"Sure dearie~ dinner should be cooking in half an hour. Familiarize yourself with my dear friends. Undyne is my best friend, of course, huehuehue!" Muffet giggled before taking off the apron and walking out.
"Nyeh Heh Heh! I've caught you in my- Oh nevermind then!" Papyrus said before getting suplexed out of the full Nelson he had Undyne in.
Undyne just stood over him, sweating and shaking her head. She really likes this guy's moxie, he was definitely a different breed and his natural energy matched that of her captain. She knew who she got her manners and unbridled charisma from. Looking at him on the floor made her realize how many great similarities both of them had.
Papyrus got up and dusted himself up meeting her eye to eye. They both were panting, an inch away from each other. Why a skeleton was panting and sweaty, no one knows.
However, they both locked eyes and just stood there, staring blankly but knowingly at each other. By this point, Muffet and Sans were heading to the lower parts of the deck, their feet grazing the teal and orange grass of the ship's deck. Papyrus and Undyne were just there looking at each other, the sunset light being their illumination.
"Nyeh heh...ahem! I, The Great Papyrus~ don't believe we got off on the right foot. I believe it's time I introduced myself...if you'd like to hear that is." Papyrus said shyly, he didn't want to squander this opportunity.
Undyne gave him a shy toothy grin and walked towards the side steps that led to the deck. She sat down at the highest step.
"I'm listening, Goldenbeard is my favorite Emporer as of now, and as a high-ranking official on his ship, I want to know more about you. And that fact that you're also the brother of my best friend makes me want to know ya even more. On top of that, the way you demolished those ships back there, you're pretty freakin' cool!" Undyne had a promising gleam in her eye.
"You think I'm...cool?" Papyrus was utterly shocked at this, most people just called him annoying or too loud. Except for Sans and Muffet.
Papyrus's plastered smile grew bigger.
He posed with his arms crossed and his back facing towards her, his legs spread out for an intimidating stance while his cap flapped furiously from his hype.
"Then I! The Great Papyrus shall tell my credentials, to a woman of such caliber and class! You're pretty cool too! Not many people can sneak up on The Great Papyrus!" Papyrus gave her a thumbs up and eyes that held wonders and dreams.
This guy must be a dream. Undyne thought.
The lanky skeleton walked up to the railing next to her and leaned against it, looking at her.
"I'm a second division commander on The Underground Pirates' ship. The only one above me is Goldenbeard of course and the first commander, Mettaton. I possess the holder of the Flame-Flame fruit, a Logia that allows me to be fire itself, I've gotten used to the abilities." Papyrus said with a childlike tone of happiness to his voice. Undyne adored it and smiled back.
"I'm a Spear-Spear woman, I'm a Paramecia that allows me to summon spears as strong as my willpower." Undyne showed him a demonstration by summoning a bident, she tried showing off to make herself look cooler to him.
Papyrus gasped with eyes full of sparkles and appraisal.
"That's really cool! But check this out-!" Papyrus raised his hand to the sky and widened his palm. A giant ball of fire emitted from his hand, Undyne just looked at it with her mouth gaped open in shock.
He retracted it immediately.
"Oh, s-sorry if that scared you-" Papyrus was immediately greeted face to face by a fish woman.
"Are you kidding?! That was awesome! What's your bounty?! It has to be high!" Undyne was up against Papyrus, her bust pressing against his ribcage. Papyrus felt a bit timid as he looked down to see Undyne's impressive bust.
"Uh-uh Uhm...my bounty is $650,000,000! Do you...find that impressive Undyne?" Papyrus blushed as he gazed onto Undyne perky and amazed face. He saw so much beauty in her.
"Come on dude, you can tell me more about yourself with the others, they should hear how cool you are too! Gehehehe!" Undyne laughed and walked down the stairs towards the lower decks. Papyrus's non-existent heart was pounding.
Undyne turned around to him, purposely seductively brushed aside her hair, showing her eye looking at him.
"You are staying the night, right?" Undyne then began to laugh to herself a great deal before walking down to the lower depths. Papyrus had to cool off.
He had to keep his priorities and alignments straight.
This is just an interview...right?
