Find a Higher Gear

Volume 40 of One Piece is essentially one long, running battle through Ennies Lobby by the Straw Hats and their allies. The Franky Family's efforts to open the main gate are stymied by a pair of actual giants. By the time they get past them and open the gate, the Straw Hats (still in the Rocketman train) are too close.

So the pirates use the iron fence as a ramp and Dukes of Hazzard right over the gate, which has the added bonus of the train delivering a big metal kidney punch to one of the giants. From there, the invasion force tries to make their way to the Courthouse and the Tower of Law, but run into stiff resistance in the literal thousands of Marines and government agents stationed there.

The Straw Hats (minus Luffy, who we'll get to) aren't really the focus. At this point, the enemies are relative small fry, and everyone understands the pirates are the ones who'll have to take down CP9. So it's more an opportunity for the shipwrights and the Franky Family to show their stuff. Oda even takes time to give a little backstory to the two enormous "king bulls" (basically whale-sized, intelligent sea horses) that are carrying everyone. Franky saved them when they were young, but claimed he was just keeping them around in case he got hungry later. Obviously he never got around to eating them, and they became part of the family. Now they're determined to carry the people who can rescue their "big bro" as far as possible.

When the Straw Hats do act, they alternate between demonstrating terrible strength, and a complete lack of any cohesion. Nami tests out her new weapon and fries a bunch of Marines, but also most of her friends. Sanji is casually knocking out a member of the "Guilty Jury" (former pirates that act as enforcers for the Government now), and in the next moment, attacking his own friends to make sure he's the one leading the charge to rescue or Robin. Zoro defeats over a dozen Marines with one attack, then somehow gets lost going up a flight of stairs.

Think of all those comics where the superheroes get trounced because they're disorganized and lacking in communication. The Straw Hats are somehow worse than that. Thank goodness most of their opponents aren't any better!

Interspersed with that, Luffy reached the top of the Courthouse, where he runs into a member of CP9. Unlike their Spandam, who is so busy bragging and taunting Robin he can't envision any pirate getting near here, the actual field agents are more on the ball. So Bluneo and his weird "Door-Door Fruit" power are waiting.

And even though Luffy does much better this time around - certainly Bluneo isn't prepared for his punches to actually hurt - he decides it isn't enough. Which is when he introduces "Gear Two." It's essentially Oda's variation on Goku's Kaio-ken, where the hero's speed and strength are increased dramatically at a physical cost. For Goku, it was that the increased energy and force pushed his body beyond its limits, until his muscles were pulling off the bone.

That's less of a concern for someone made of rubber, but the way Luffy makes it work means it puts a lot of strain on him, and burns up his energy. Still, with Bluneo trounced, Luffy's almost to Robin. His crew haven't quite caught up yet, but at least CP9 is down to 6 agents (plus Spandam.)