Hitting the Long Shot

Yes he does, Zoro. Do you think theme songs just appear from thin air?

Back to One Piece, volume 43! Chopper's transformed into a monster, unable to distinguish friend from foe. Nami's fighting, and mostly losing, in her attempt to beat Kalifa and get a key that will unlock the handcuffs shackling Zoro and Usopp to one another before they're killed by Kaku and Jabra. Spandam accidentally triggered a Buster Call (because he's an imbecile), so Ennies Lobby will be destroyed in a hail of broadsides within a half-hour. But he'll have Robin through the Gates of Justice and on her way to prison long before that unless Luffy can get past Rob Lucci.

But besides the Power of Friendship, nothing helps the Straw Hats get their shit together like pressure! Chopper busting through the wall like Kool-Aid Man distracts Kalifa enough for Nami to get some sort of a plan going, despite the weird effects of Kalifa's Devil Fruit. Chopper's rampage also sets in motion Sanji's return to battle, though that doesn't become apparent for a while yet.

With Franky rushing to get the two keys they have so far to Robin, and Nami managing to uncuff Zoro and Usopp, things are looking up. Except Zoro's got his hands full with just Kaku, leaving Jabra to tear into the over matched "Sniper King," until Sanji makes the save. Which doesn't do a hell of a lot for Usopp's self-esteem, that he still couldn't win his battle, but Sanji reminds him there are things Usopp can do he can't, and the sniper should concentrate on how those skills can help save the day. 

All the fights are a mixture of gags and the Straw Hats unleashing new abilities. When Chopper busts in Kalifa is briefly convinced he's actually Nami demonstrating some Devil Fruit power. Then she tries to cover it up, insisting she wasn't fooled, while Nami ignores her in favor of trying to reach Chopper. There's also a bit about Nami gradually messing up "Sniper King"'s name more and more, until she's not even getting one of the syllables correct.

At the same time, you've got Sanji fighting with this wolf-man who tries cheap stunts like claiming to be Robin's long-lost brother, or tossing his key on the ground so he can pounce when the character reaches for it. All of which pisses off Sanji enough he spins on one foot until the friction lights his leg on fire. So now his kicks are strong - which wasn't making much headway against CP9's "Iron Body" technique - and hot, which is more effective.

Zoro, meanwhile, is fighting a guy with a giraffe Devil Fruit, who can somehow retract his neck into his body, then extend it like a lance, or fold his body into a cube to protect vulnerable parts. So Zoro, naturally, gets angry enough he grows two more heads and two more sets of arms, complete with swords. As one does. I mean, I don't know about you, but I do this all the time when frustrated with my workload or bosses. It's a great boon in multi-tasking, minus the blinding destructive rage (and the way all the hands fight over preferred writing implements.) Kaku says Zoro's creating 'visions' by force of will, but these aren't illusions, and I don't think he's moving his body so fast as to make it appear he has extra limbs, either. I'm not sure if Oda's explained this, even 700 chapters later.

Amid all that, Luffy finally busts out Second Gear again, evening things enough for Lucci to unleash his Devil Fruit, and given Franky an avenue to slip past. But it looks as though it's not going to be enough. Robin's fighting her hardest to survive, but Spandam's still dragging her towards the gates, running his yap the whole way (which might be the worst part to experience, you know that guy has the most irritating voice), when -

(One thing that bugs me about manga is how often they do these big images that just barely leak over onto the next page. Not enough to make it feel like they needed the space, but enough to make it messy if you try to do a scan that I end up using smaller selections. The big image of Usopp interrupting Spandam right as he's about to drag Robin through the gate was like that, so was the big image of Usopp backlit by the Sun and pointing to the sky. Either do a full-page or double-page splash, or don't. This 1.1-page splash crap is just irritating and pointless.)

Usopp's accurate fire from a mile away - the thing he can do Sanji can't - gives Franky time to catch up and free Robin. So everything's looking good. Too bad the Marine fleet just arrived. . .