The Scourge of the Seas
Ripples, Waves, Tsunamis
is a One Piece Fan Fiction by Xomniac. After entering the New World, but before stopping on Punk Hazard, the Straw Hats find themselves antagonized by a mysterious pirate-hunting fishman. Soon after, they find a secret haven for pirates, and as they attempt to help them put an end to the mysterious Scourge of the Sea, Nami struggles with her subconscious, trying to recall long-forgotten memories that have begun to stir…
Tropes contained in Ripples, Waves, Tsunamis:
- Abusive Parents: Raijax's father saw him as a monster. Fortunately, the same cannot be said for his mother.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Luffy is uncharacteristically thoughtful and serious after the mysterious intruder steals his food. In response to his crew’s incredulity…Luffy: Of course I'm serious! This bastard broke on to our ship, our home, hurt Nami, almost drowned Chopper…and most importantly…HE STOLE ALL MY MEAT!
- Arson, Murder, and Lifesaving: Nami's description of the mysterious fishman, when she realizes who he is:Nami: His name is Raijax. And he was one of Arlong's crew. Heck, he wasn’t just part of his crew, he was one of his lieutenants, on the same level as Hachi, Chew, and Kuroobi. He was a blunt, insensitive ass, who didn’t ever give so much as two shits about the situation at hand or whatever emotions were at play. He was a ruthless killer who always fought without mercy, and a slavedriver who couldn’t care less about limits. For almost a year, he thrashed me blue, black, and bloody on an almost daily basis, worked me down to the bone—literally, sometimes—until I was coughing up blood and more often than not had fun doing it…And he was one of the best friends…I’ve ever had…
- Badass Boast: Usopp typically does these as part of his trademark tall tales. This one, however, is particularly notable…Usopp: I once caught a massive horned shark, ten times as big as the one we caught after we got the Sunny!Nami: (scoffs and rolls her eyes)Usopp: (smiles victoriously) Hey Nami… Remember those huge blue spikes I got Franky to mount in the Dining Hall?
- Berserk Button: An odd example in that it’s a physical button rather than an emotional one. Raijax goes into a berserk feeding frenzy when he smells blood. Breaking his nose results in blood flowing into his nasal passages, locking him in that frenzy.
- Beware the Nice Ones: The Straw Hats are already this in canon, but in Chapter 6, when Luffy comes up with a plan to take down the rampaging Raijax…Narration: On that day, the Straw Hat Pirates stared at their captain and knew, knew the very definition of fear.
- Body Horror: Quite apart from being Covered in Scars, Raijax’s mouth is horribly mutilated. Apparently, when they're thrown into a fish-tank with a slave fishman, Zoans don’t die easy when they're being Eaten Alive...
- Calling Your Attacks: Raijax, after his redemption, starts doing this. His one named technique is the Mako Keel Krusher. Yes, that's how he spelled it, and it is very literal.
- Choke Holds: The last battle with Raijax involves Luffy effectively smothering his gills beneath his Gear Third hands.
- Covered in Scars: Raijax.
- Curse Cut Short: Happens several times.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Raijax, and we only get the highlights of it…
- Debt Detester: A severe understatement for Raijax when he hears about everything Luffy had done: beating Arlong, beating Hody, burning Enies Lobby to the ground, punching a World Noble in vengeance for a fishman, to save a mermaid, breaking Jinbe out of prison, diverting Big Mom's wrath from Fishman Island, and most recently, saving Nami from his berserk rage. He's extremely grateful, sure, but that just makes him more furious; he considers himself to have a mountain of debt to pay back, and he just met him!
- And later, beating Doflamingo, one of the slave traders that sold him.
- Determinator: Raijax is so much this that he can practically No-Sell Luffy’s Haki. He wasn’t able to withstand it, no, but he was able to come back from going under by sheer force of will; sure, when their wills truly matched up, Raijax lost, but Luffy had to expend enough energy through sheer Haki that he was left as exhausted as when he fought Lucci.
- Fingore: When Franky first tries to hold Raijax down, the shark-man ends up biting his metal fingers off with Haki-enhanced teeth.
- Fish People: According to Raijax, typical fishmen are 25% fish and 75% human, while mermen are half and half. With a fishman father and mermaid mother, his genetics got mixed up, making him 25% human, 75% great white shark. As such, he looks less like a human with fishy features and more like a shark with limbs.
- Flashback: The duration of Chapter 5 sans commentary is Nami telling of her past with Raijax.
- Good Parents: Raijax describes his mother as an angel. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his father.
- Headdesk: In Chapter 7, Chopper has this reaction after he realizes that Raijax tricked him.
- Improvised Armor: As shown in the picture, Raijax wears kludged-together armor made out of scrap metal, held on by rope.
- Irrational Hatred: Raijax sees pirates as monsters that destroy everything people care about and leave ruin and misery behind, Marines as being only 1/10 decent, and the World Government as being thoroughly evil. Now, all things considered, none of that is unreasonable; heck, he doesn’t attack Marines, and he doesn’t even hold pirate offspring responsible for Sins of the Father. The only real irrational part is that he utterly refuses to believe that anyone who sails under a Jolly Roger isn't a monster…up until Nami jogs his memory.
- Ninja: Parodied by the Mizu-Chi Pirates, a pirate crew full of ninjas, and thoroughly exaggerated by their captain, Kaizoku (literally "pirate" in Japanese). He ends every sentence in "-san", and has a Signature Laugh of "Nin-nin-nin!".
- Oh, Crap!: In Chapter 5, Arlong and Raijax have this reaction after Raijax throws Nami into Arlong Park's very deep pool to start training her, and Hachi remarks on how they're teaching Nami to swim. Both have this reaction as they understand the message: she can’t swim.
- One-Man Army: Raijax, and how. Nami's description?Nami: In short, think of him as a smaller, faster, smarter, and more vicious version of Oars.
- Pet the Dog: Nami gets her first hint that Raijax isn’t like the other fishmen when he surreptitiously compensates a family that can’t pay the month's tribute money.
- Prongs of Poseidon: Raijax's weapon is a trident made out of scrap metal, paired with an Inescapable Net made with sea stone.
- Redemption Earns Life: Raijax. He goes from public enemy number one for both Kayaku and the Straw Hats to honorary Straw Hat and guardian of Kayaku.
- Running Gag: Chopper getting seawater up his nose.
- Shout-Out: In Chapter 5:
- Signature Laugh: As of the epilogue, Raijax's is "SHASHASHASHA!"
- Something Only They Would Say: When Nami's memories finally break through to the surface, this is how she confirms her identity to Raijax, and vice-versa.
- Talk Like a Pirate: Mayor Polly of Kayaku.
- Tranquil Fury:
- After the above Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking occurrence, Zoro and Sanji express the crew's discontent at Luffy's skewed priorities.
- After Zoro suggests cutting off Raijax’s limbs and then having Chopper sew them back on, Nami serenely states that if any of them maim him, she'll crush their testicles in their sleep for the rest of their lives. Even Brook is terrified, and he doesn’t even have testicles anymore.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Raijax and Nami, or as they call each other, Bastard and Brat.
