Four people sat around the poker table, besides Raven himself. Two were dressed in identical black and grey armour; a man with short brown hair, a scar over his right eye and a perpetually disapproving look, and a slighter woman with bright red hair and a cheerful expression. Raven recognised these two as Magellan and Natalya Shepard (no relation to one another); the armour was kind of a giveaway considering the N7 emblems.
The other two were somewhat different from the two Shepards. Another man sat to Natalya's left, and he was dressed in one of the strangest outfits imaginable: a black sombrero, some kind of sparkly vest and black lederhosen, almost the colour of the night sky, made up his clothing. An immaculately designed accordion was on the table near the man. Raven knew the Accordion Thief well: Voldreya, Slayer of the Dread Mariachi Somerset Lopez.
Raven had his suspicions about the fourth: he was dressed in white, a hood covering his face and all the trademarks of a twelfth-century Assassin about his person. Once Raven and Magellan had tossed in their chips as the blinds, Altair ibn La-Ahad dealt the cards with precision drawn from countless thrown knives. Each of the five looked at their two cards; the game was Texas Hold 'Em.
The first round of bets quickly boiled down to Raven, Magellan and Altair: Raven thought he had it in the bag. Altair dealt out the flop to reveal... a pair of eights. Raven flinched, getting up from the table. Something was up.
"Been a pleasure, all, but I'm retiring immediately," he stated. "Split my entry fee up how you will." Voldreya quickly took the entire pile of chips Raven had accumulated and added it to his own before anyone could react. He wasn't a Thief for nothing.
As Raven began to walk away, Altair got up and followed. "Hold a moment," was all he said; it was enough to get Raven to stop and turn. Then the Assassin pulled off his hood to reveal a different face from that which Raven had been expecting. "What're you doing here? How'd you know about my regular poker game?"
"It was easy enough to discover," 'Altair' answered, stepping closer. "The disguise was good, don't you think? An appropriate outfit. But that's not why I'm here." The would-be Assassin flicked their left hand, and a familiar blade extended from the device on the wrist.
"Should've known," Raven mused. "I didn't create you. Altair can't be customised to suit the player's preference. No matter. If you feel you must, then you must. but they will find you, and they will kill you. You won't last. Give yourself up - "
Raven's tongue was silenced as the killer drove the Hidden Blade into his heart. Pushing the dying man to the floor to bleed out, three knives buried themselves in the throats of the other three players. The killer strode over to the poker table, where he flipped Raven's cards over. The deck had been rigged specifically for this event...
A pair of aces. The Dead Man's Hand.