He sat anxiously, waiting for his name to be called by the announcer. His fists covered from his fore arms, to just above his knuckles in hand wraps that were more than a little worn out. But for the first time, no gloves. No silk robe or satin trunks, and no mouth piece. they simply didn't fit in, with the type of crowd he was fighting for this night. Tonight Peter was instead sporting his trademark flower shirt, orange in colour, loose fitting black jeans and his red jordan 1's. About to undergo a familiar procedure, before an unfamiliar audience.

Peter once upon a time, was rumored to be the next up-and-comming prospect in the heavy weight division, before his mutation robbed any chance of him competing in a proffessional ring. A man with unfulfilled potential who may have one day fought in sold out arenas, somehow ended up in an abandoned warehouse in NYC. The place was filled with all types of crooks and pros alike, all hoping to walk away with something in their pockets, but Peter had other things on his mind.

As his coach told him when he left, "The city's a big place Peter, and not the kinda place you want to roam all alone, ecspecially since youre..." A mutant. He didn't say it and he didn't have to, Peter saw enough in the news papers and telivision to know this much. But if he was going to sharpen his skills against the scum of the city, this was the only place he knew to look. Or at least the only place with a ring, that didn't discriminate against mutant-kind. "Only one rule fer muties kid, aint no flashy shit aloud ya hear!? Cant have you blowin up our establishment, or our fine customers." Peter gave a single nod, and signed his name on the list of fighters competing that night. 

Oponents were chosen at random, but there were two lists. One for mutants and one for humans. This was so the odd coach or scout knew who was "eligable" for the pro scene and who wasn't.  There were many names under the mutant list, but one in particular caught Peters attention.  Hades.

He pointed at his name, "give me him". The man laughed out loud, half in hysterics and half in condisention. 
"You wouldn't make it passed the opening bell kid, hes a big fish and your a tadpole."  Peter smiled at the bald man, before putting on as serious a face as he could.
"Just get me that fight."
The mans smile turned to a look of disaproval.
"Opponents are chosen at random kid..." He grinned menacingly "take a seat, and we'll see if luck is in your favor."

*Ding ding ding*
The opening bouts had just concluded, the fighters walking out with faces swolen out of shape, and garments crimson with their blood. The crowd screamed for more, some were starting to place their bets whilst others were rushing out to avoid paying. 
"For our next fight, we got two freaks buttin heads!"
The boos of the crowd filled the air. Even in a place as dirty and run down as this, mutants were at the foot of the public.
"You know the rules, the combatants will fight until one forfeits the bout, or is unable to answer the count of 10."
The crowd cheered for the moment, the testorone coursing through every last soul. Mutant or not, everybody loved a good knock out.
"And now introducing first, In the corner to my right, we have PETER MALIOTAAA!"

Peter raised his head. He quickly rose from his seat and pushed his way through the booing crowd, jumping over the top rope and onto the mat, which was only a few inches above the concrete floor. 
"And his oponent, in the corner to my left, HADEEEES!" 
The crowds booing did not cease, as Peter waited in anticipation, for the one named after the greek god of the underworld.

The thing with a name like Hades is that so many people use it as their moniker. Code names like Reaper, Hunter, Hades have been used in movies, books, games and are considered as "cool", hence, pick a "cool" name, put on a mask and viola, become almost untraceable. Hades had actually fought here a number of time before, always masked and always under different names. It was a good place to test technique as the fighting style was always down and dirty, if it was not practical it would not work and you would go down. Half of his fights he had registered under the "Human" category and nobody had ever noticed.

His name was called. The masked man smoothly stood up and made his way into the ring. After the customary greetings and showing of respect to the other fighter, the bell rung and they squared up.
Hades intentionally took the first punch on the elbow. When dealing with other mutants it was always good to do a test, especially if you were not sure of their mutation or level or mutation. If a punch can crack, fracture or shatter a cocked elbow then there is no point in fighting. The same force would drive a fist straight through your rib cage or cave in your skull. In such a situation then an amicable fight is out of the question. The only way to survive would b e to either run away or kill/incapacitate your opponent.

Thankfully, the punch only pushed Hades back.He stayed in balance, in stance only he was moved back some distance. So he packed quite a punch, potentially a 1 hit to the head = K.O punch. "Peter" also seemed to have armor on various parts of his body. So he could punch, but how was his footwork. Hades promptly launched his own attacks. As there was no limitation on fighting style Hades decided to see what his opponent was like.

He launched a flurry of kicks, moving seamlessly from one fighting style to another. The sweeping kicks of Capoeira to the lunge kicks of Muay Thai, the attacks of Krav Maga, Wing Chun low kicks, Taekwondo spin kicks, Karate high kicks, Jiu Jitsu and Ninjutsu kicks etc. How Peter responded to these would tell Hades a lot.

Peter and Hades met at the centre of the ring. Aside from the mask his opponent wore, he didn't notice anything all that impressive about him, at least not in terms of his looks. Sure he was only a few imches shorter than Peter, but Peter had fought and defeated many a tall athletes in the past, "this will be cake" he thought to himself.

The bell rung, and both men got into a fighting stance. Peter knew he wasn't supposed to use his mutation, but without any energy to power the gauntlets they were essentially just fancy brass knuckles. More of a defensive tool. He danced around for a few seconds before taking his first shot, a left cross. He would usually soften up his opponent with a few light jabs and straights before throwing power punches, but this man was a mutant after all, and Peter wanted to end the fight as quickly as possible. He nullified Peters strike with his elbow, though moving back a couple paces. Peter smiled at the man, almost as if to taunt. "That wasn't any sort of technique ive ever seen before," Peter thought to himself. But even still, he knew at that point, that Hades was a man of experience in some other form of martial art.

Within that moment Hades came forward, lunging at Peter with a push kick to the chest, Peter blocking with both forearms. But just as quickly as the strike landed, Hades switched levels with a side kick to Peters left knee. Peter lost balance for a moment, but postured up only to duck another spinning heel kick that flew right over his head. Peter went for his counter off the slip, but as soon as Hades foot made contact with the ground he lept back with a switch kick. Peter anticipating a leg kick instinctively dropped his hands, he had no idea how to defend otherwise (a weakness that was quickly becoming evident) but Hades switched levels in mid air, cracking Peter square in the face. 

Peter spun out for a moment, before catching himself on the ropes; the muffled cheers of the crowd grew louder. He wiped the edge of his lip with his thumb, the blood smearing over it like paint. "Okay" he said to himself, he looked back up at Hades trying to remain calm. There was no use trying to counter punch this man, his movements were too unpredictable. Peter was going to have to buy his time and use his reach, before hitting him with as many power punches as he could. 

Peter came back, keeping a safe distance away and jabbing at the shorter man. Hades didn't seem to have any problem blocking Peter's attack, but Peter made sure he couldn't get inside for any leg kicks. Then Peter threw the same cross that caught Hades off gaurd the first time; as Hades moved backward Peter saw his chance. 

He went straight to work on his body, hook after hook switching to the head every so often. If he could keep this up and made sure Hades had no time to cover up, then maybe he could end the fight right here.

Hades noted the way Peter blocked his attacks. He was a boxer, an experienced one, technique, southpaw. Before he concisely realized it he was automatically circling left, keeping his neck loose. Peter tried the same punch that had caught him off guard the first time. Fool me once thought Hades as he ducked and swayed right, using his left side to push the punch off while firing off rapid body punches with his right, all aimed at Peters left side, the side without armor. He only managed three before Peter started his barrage.

Peter had the advantage of height and reach, and he used it. Hades blocked once, twice but a third slipped under his guard. Hades swayed his head backward and managed to rob the punch of most of its force but it still hit like a freight train. As he took the punch, Hades noted that Peter was winding back for another punch. Hades waited until Peter was committed, then he dropped. Hades fell on his back as Peter's punch thundered through the space he had previously occupied. Hades landed on his back, drew his knees up to his chest and in a single explosive move launched two footed strike straight at Peter's abdomen and solar plexus.

Having cleared some space for himself, Hades jumped back on his feet, but something was up. His footing seemed less sure, he seemed to stumble, avoiding Peters punches more by luck and chance than skill. It was a ruse, He waited until Peter had just launched a Hay-maker, swayed out of the way and ended up suddenly in a rock solid horse stance, he whipped his torso sideways from the waist up and launched a dual handed punch, again at Peter;s unarmored side. Peter was not the only one who could catch people off guard.