Mercer loved his job. In his humble opinion, there was no more satisfying job in all the world.
He was sure that his employer, Sir Beckett, would disagree, but he was also sure that Beckett could only get his rocks off while looking at quarterly summaries. Beckett didn't understand the finer things in life; a simpleton who lived to watch numbers go up.
No, Mercer was the one who was truly blessed. His responsibilities were few, he made enough money to be comfortable, and most importantly, he got to murder people without consequences.
His favorite were people with unfounded confidence. For example, it didn't matter how strong the pirates on the circus ship were, because everybody would die from a cut throat while they slept.
Mercer may not measure up during the day, but he was very good at bleeding sleeping fools. It's why Beckett paid him the big bucks. It's also why someone else would pay him even bigger bucks to put a knife in Beckett, when he started getting a little too big for his britches.
For now, though, the pirates. Mmm, he was so excited! When was the last time Beckett had him do a job? Three months? Four? Far too long, in any case. He had really started to get antsy.
Tiny pellets of ice began to pelt his umbrella. Unusual this time of year, but not unheard of. Mercer paid no mind to it.
The pirates had a watch set. Wary even at port, he could respect that kind of prudence. It would not save them.
The green haired swordsman was practically lounging on the grassy deck, but even so, Mercer knew he was far more aware of his surroundings than he seemed. The man was relaxed, true; relaxed in the way a coiled snake was relaxed, ready to strike in a moment's notice.
So, Mercer waited. The swordsman's attention would waver at some point. He was only human, after all.
He didn't even have to wait ten minutes for his chance. It was a short window, and few men could have taken advantage of it. For Mercer, it was child's play.
Mercer was inside the ship now, having slipped through an unsecured porthole. There was no need to deal with the watchman right now. Even with the rain and hail, he might make enough noise to wake someone else.
He did a bit of scouting, first and foremost. It never hurts to be aware of your environment, especially when your adversaries know it better than yourself.
He confirmed the presence of several targets, only a handful still awake, though it was more than he hoped for.
Finally, he settled on his first kill. She was an abnormally tall woman with dark, reddish skin and tattoos across her entire body in the fashion of wood patterns. Anyone who could sit through a full body tattoo like that would have high pain tolerance, so she was a sound choice to remove from the board first.
Mercer drew his dagger and, with well practiced efficiency, he stabbed into her carotid-
The dagger skidded across her skin like it was made of steel. The woman's eyes shot open, her hand whipped up and caught him by the throat. In the next instant, he was slammed into a wall, no, through a wall.
Mercer was dazed, confused, and very likely concussed.
"Wait, you aren't Cherry," the woman said, but he was barely able to comprehend that she was speaking, let alone understand the words she spoke. "Why are you trying to stab me in my sleep? Actually, who even are you?"
Mercer lost what little grip he had on consciousness, the world fading to black.
…
Cabernet scratched her head with a helpless expression.
It was fine to get rough with Cherry when she played a prank like this under the guise of 'training'. Her sister was never offended, especially since she was the one disturbing other people's sleep.
Cabernet hadn't been expecting a stranger to try to prank her in this way. He was probably seriously hurt! Oh no…
"Right! I should go get Chopper!" Cabernet spoke to herself. "He'll know what to do! He told me I shouldn't move injured people unless it's an emergency, so I guess you'll have to sit tight. Be right back!"
Thankfully, Sunny wasn't that big, so it was just a metaphorical hop and skip away to find the reindeer doctor.
"Chopper! Wake up!" Cabernet picked the stuffed animal sized physician up from the bed and shook him awake as she started making her way back.
"H-huh, wha…?" Chopper stirred. "What's going on?"
"I accidentally pushed a guy through a wall!" Cabernet summarized.
For half a moment, Chopper was silent as his eyes went from half asleep to alert. He spoke firmly and calmly, "I need my bag; stop by the infirmary first."
Cabernet made a detour, setting Chopper down after opening the door to his office. Chopper scurried over to a large bag as he shifted to Heavy Point and picked it up. "Lead the way."
Cabernet obliged and soon they were back where she set up a hammock in her own little nook, for nights that she wanted a little privacy.
"Oh, dear," Chopper hissed as he began going through his tools. "You really did put him through a wall, huh?"
"Mm, that's what I told you," Cabernet answered. What else could she have meant by that?
"Who is this guy, anyways?" Chopper asked, shining a flashlight in the man's unmoving eyes.
"I don't know!" Cabernet shrugged. "He just woke me up out of nowhere and I reacted!"
"Well, his pupils aren't blown out, so that's a good sign. I'm going to have to put staples in his scalp, though," Chopper commented. "Hopefully he'll wake up by morning, and we can ask what he was doing on our ship."
"Hey, what's all the rushing around about?" Usopp wandered over with a yawn, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Cabernet knocked out this guy who was sneaking around the ship," Chopper enlightened him.
"Do you think he was trying to rob us?" Usopp scratched his belly.
"Like… a gentleman thief or something?" Cabernet asked.
They all looked over his outfit. He was certainly well dressed, and the darker colors would be useful for skulking under cover of night.
"Should we just toss him off the ship?" Usopp suggested.
"He probably has a concussion, Usopp! That could seriously worsen his condition," Chopper denied.
"And he tried to steal from us. He should count himself lucky that he's getting away with just that," Usopp pointed out.
"I have my pride and my ethics as a doctor, Usopp. No harm will come to him until he leaves my care," Chopper responded firmly.
"Alright, alright," Usopp raised his hands in surrender. "What if he doesn't wake up before we're ready to leave, though?"
"We'll let Luffy handle it," Chopper deferred to his captain.
"Fair enough. He's dead asleep right now, though, so we won't be waking him up any time soon," Usopp said.
"Cherry should be back before that. Waking this guy up should be easy for her," Cabernet supposed.
"Mm, that's true," Chopper agreed.
"Well, you two have fun waiting. I'm going back to bed," Usopp waved and walked away.