Earth-247

Two Ribbons and a Snowball

The fairgrounds were unsettling, dark and empty but lacking threat. Erik and Jason strolled the beaten paths.

"How do you manage the awful stench of wet straw and burnt oil on a daily basis?" Erik spat, interrupting the current conversation.

Jason laughed. "The way you get used to any awful thing: repeated exposure."

"Mutants should not be living in such conditions," Erik bemoaned, mostly to himself.

Jason let the topic die in silence.

Some yards later, Erik spoke again. "Are there any other mutants working in this circus?"

"Absolutely," Jason confirmed. "I imagine most circuses are mostly mutants."

"How many of them would be of use to me?"

"Far fewer. I can introduce you to some prospects, though."

"Please," Erik said simply, gesturing for Jason to step forward and lead him to those prospects.

They soon found themselves outside a round tent. Visible through the entrance was a boxing ring. The lights were still on, but no spectators appeared to be straggling. Inside, Erik was greeted with two different but equally strange sights: a man who uncannily resembled Jason and a hulking behemoth of flesh.

Jason gestured theatrically as his doppelganger and the embodiment of corpulence ceased their sparring. "Erik, I present to you, Unus the Untouchable and the Blob!"

"Who's this chump?" the Blob asked, his irreverence highlighted by his deep Southern drawl.

"He certainly has interesting taste in headwear," Unus the Untouchable sneered in a thick Italian accent.

Erik ignored their jibes and addressed Jason. "These are the prospects you mentioned?"

"What they lack in manners, they make up for in ability," Jason assured Erik. He pivoted to the two in the ring, paused, then pivoted back to Erik. "You seem the kind of man that introduces himself."

Erik smirked. "Indeed." He cleared his throat then explained, "My name is Erik. I am a mutant recruiting my brethren to combat the oppression we face at the hands of humanity."

Unus the Untouchable and the Blob guffawed. "And I'm the Tooth Fairy!" the Blob retorted.

As the two laughed uncontrollably, Erik told Jason, "I've wasted enough time on these clowns."

That snapped the two out of it. "Who you callin' a clown, there, Earl?" the Blob demanded.

"Imagine a mutant insulting a fellow mutant in such a way! Unthinkable!" Unus the Untouchable added.

"My name is Erik—"

"Guys, guys," Jason intervened. "How many times have we talked about getting out of here? Of sticking it to the sick fucks that make it so the circus is the only job we can have?"

The two looked at each other.

"Please," Jason continued, "you two are the only people here I tolerate. Just hear Erik out and keep your mouths shut, okay?"

They nodded.

"I don't know, Jason," Erik mused. "I was aware of your powers; I had reason to convince you. I find this situation to be inverted. What do they have to offer?"

"'Unus the Untouchable' is not just a name!" Unus the Untouchable declared in indignation. "It is my existence! Show him, Blob!"

The Blob proceeded to bolo punch Unus the Untouchable with no reservation. The Blob's flesh cascaded down his arm, swallowed his fist, and recoiled all the way back up to his neck before settling. Meanwhile, Unus the Untouchable flew across the ring, cleared the back ropes, and crashed into a cluster of metal folding chairs. He remained motionless.