The Counterattack Starts Now

Florida Man, accused of attempted cannibalism, says he, "Just wanted to see what all the fuss was about."

One Piece, volume 39. The government kill squad is taking Nico Robin to the judicial island of Ennies Lobby, where she will be found guilty and sent on to either torture and imprisonment, or torture and death. But, the rest of the crew now know she's doing that to try and protect them, so they're not going to let it stand. Sanji already snuck on the train and started causing havoc, and now he's got Franky and Usopp to back him. Well, Franky, maybe, as Usopp bowed out. Only for the mysterious "Sniper King" to turn up moments later. Hailing from Sniper Island (which is located within your heart, so you might want to get that looked at,) he was asked by Mr. Usopp to lend them a hand. This disguise fools absolutely no one. 

Fine, it fools absolutely no one except Luffy and Chopper. Whatever, the point is, a 3-person rescue squad is better than a 2-person rescue squad. While Sanji kicks the crap out of Wanze, a government agent who also fancies himself a cook, and Franky takes on Nero, junior member of CP9, Usopp circumvents all that and makes his way directly to Robin.

Oda doesn't drag either fight out too long, while also playing up the opponents' dangerous and idiotic natures. Wanze's nuts, but he can make essentially an exo-skeleton out of ramen, while also getting furious when Sanji kicks him in the face so hard it makes him look like a pretty boy manga protagonist. 

Meanwhile, Nero has some of the same techniques as Lucci and the others, but he's cocky and unprepared for an opponent who fights dirty. Right off the bat, Franky catches him with the, "What's that behind you?" trick, which sets the tone. Nero keeps thinking he's got the upper hand, and Franky goes along with it, busting out stuff like spitting nails, or the "Franky Centaur", that seem utterly pointless. Until Nero finds himself trapped and about to get clobbered with a big metal fist.

Unfortunately, the rescue attempt fails when the rescuee refuses to be rescued. Robin's trying to protect them from, a Buster Call, essentially an overwhelming bombardment by the Marines. It's what wiped out everyone, except her, on her home island, and she just doesn't see any fighting it. Worse, Franky ends up a prisoner again, so CP9 has the guy with the blueprints for the ancient battleship, and the lady that could find the real deal.

Still, the interesting part of the whole sequence is probably that Usopp, who wouldn't go along with Luffy's decision and left the crew, tells Robin to have faith in Luffy, even as she's walking away with CP9. It speaks to how it wasn't really Luffy's choice to save farewell to their ship that caused Usopp to leave, but his feeling of inadequacy. He was supposed to maintain the Going Merry (with no actual experience, just he was the one that tried), and couldn't. He couldn't protect the money they were going to use to repair Merry. He wasn't good enough, so he left before they could cast him aside. That's also the fate Robin's trying to avoid, albeit for different reasons.

While all that's happening, Luffy and the rest of the crew, plus Franky's gang and some of the shipwrights, are hot on their trail in a more experimental Sea Train. Zoro gets them through a couple of problems - including when two train cars Sanji detached are on the track and Luffy simply orders, "It's in the way. Cut it." - and they pick up Sanji and Us-sorry Sniper King along the way.

A plan is devised as they approach, but plans never survive first contact with Luffy, who promptly slingshots himself into Ennies Lobby and starts fighting everyone he sees. Meanwhile, Franky's gang and the shipwrights are still on the plan of opening the gates so the Straw Hats can charge in and through without wasting a lot of time fighting small fry, but they run into a small problem. Well, two large problems, actually.