Not too long ago…
"You know, this didn't work out too well the last time we tried this" said Hogback. "Bit of an understatement that when I think about it. Fossfossfossfossss... still though, I'm not so sure that this is a good idea."
"Well, you can tell him that then, because it sure ain't gonna be me that does it" said Absalom. "All I know is that we gotta find a place to stow this for a while."
The two men turned and stared at the huge block of ice before them; it had been shipped by great expense all the way from West Blue in a refrigerated cargo ship, but recent turns of events had meant that they were now deprived of the vast cryogenic facilities of Thriller Park.
"Any ideas?"
"Now that I think about it; yes, yes, I do."
A couple of days ago...
The kitchen deep below the stadium was constantly busy. Waiters, cooks, and the odd intruder who had to be chased out with many a threat and waving of knives in various threatening manners constantly jostled each other and the hum of the constant chatter could be heard on the level above and below the kitchen. This level of activity was necessary to provide an unending stream of food for the concession stands as well as finer fair for the various luxury boxes Despite this, the sheer size of the kitchen meant that certain areas of it were fairly empty at any given moment and our story now turns to one of those areas.
Wanze skated along between the gleaming rows of appliances on his way from one side of the kitchen to another to deliver another large batch of freshly made noodles. Sure, there had been arguments about his methods, but blind taste tests had shown that people didn't notice anything unusual about food that he had prepared so the other workers had agreed to leave well enough alone and just not think too much about the food they were providing. One thing they all agreed upon was that Wanze's best work would be done in a place where the rest of them didn't have to watch. They also agreed not to ask him to put ketchup and mustard on any food from now on, but the less said about that, the better.
As he sailed along, he stumbled over a cord that was stretched across an aisle and plugged into the opposite wall. For a second there, he stared at the collection of noodles lying on the floor, glanced around, shrugged, and scooped them back into the bowl. "Sassassassassaaa, promptly picked up is never dropped after all. Sassassassas... Hey, what did I trip over anyway?"
Wanze followed the cord back to the wall that it was plugged into and then opened the door to the room. "Nothing but a big chunk of ice. Well, time's a wastin'." He skated off towards the front of the kitchen and handed over the bowl of noodles.
"Here you go. One bowl."
"Of Ramen noodles?"
"Uf wamen nyudulls?"
"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!"
"SASSASSASSASSAAAA!"
In all the commotion, nobody in the kitchen noticed a single unplugged cord in the back of the kitchen.
Today.
Gecko Moria was somewhat annoyed; here he had been enjoying himself a nice wading pool of ramen noodles and now one of the Idiot Brigade had come up to him politely asking him to waste his time by actually doing something. "I'm busy; can't you take care of it?"
"I'm sorry, Master Moria" said the zombie, one of those recently repurposed as a stagehand for the tournament. "But there's not much we can do; he's too big."
"Fine, fine" Moria grumbled as he lurched to his feet. "Let's get this over with." He left his luxury box, rode the elevator down, and walked out onto the skating rink a few levels below the arena floor. Normally, this rink was totally empty outside of a few special events and the odd cold-natured guest who preferred to spend time between matches in a more comfortable climate. Right now though, it was a scene of total chaos. This was because Mora's latest acquisition was busy pummeling some of the zombies attempting to reign him in.
"Hey, hey, don't do that. Those shadows aren't that easy to find you know. Bodies we can make more of, but getting those shadows cuts into my nap time."
Jaguar D. Saul turned and looked at the newcomer. "I don't know why everybody keeps acting like they've seen a ghost when I try to talk to them and I don't know why these little guys keep attacking me. I just want to be left alone."
"Kishishishishishi. Looks like I got a live one this time. Hey, what can you do?" Moria snorted in annoyance. "Fine thing;" he muttered to himself. "Just because I want to become Pirate King shouldn't mean I have to work for it."
Moria spoke up then and addressed his opponent. "Hey, you wanna be alone? Fine, I just need one little thing from you first."