BIOGRAPHY - Page 11
Colossus kept a low profile over the next few weeks and even managed to get back to America without the authorities noticing. Whilst hiding after hours in the Art Institute of Chicago, he was found by Cable, who had sought him out as he needed help with a mission. Colossus’ powers had gone haywire since the Phoenix Force left him, as he now involuntarily turned pieces of his body into organic metal. Cable brought him a special suit that would stabilize the transformation, giving Piotr the ability to switch to his armored form at the push of a button. Despite some reservations, Colossus joined Cable and his new X-Force team.
During the debriefing on their first mission, Colossus learned that Cable had received a prophetic vision that showed a deadly virus sweeping across America and that the outbreak would start in a meat processing plant. Piotr went undercover and started working at the plant, relaying vital information to the rest of the team whilst also investigating possible causes for the outbreak. Colossus and X-Force tried their best to stop the virus but it was unleashed just as Cable’s visions had showed him. The first to be infected were the workers at the plant, many of whom Piotr had become good friends with in the short time he worked there. Dr. Nemesis, one of the Piotr’s teammates, tried to develop a cure but it made things worse and X-Force had to kill the workers 
before the virus spread to the outside world. Piotr was angry at the outcome, as he had joined the team in a bid to save lives, not take them. To make matters worse, the Avengers’ Unity Squad caught the team at the plant and thought that they caused the problem. Once again, Colossus found himself an enemy of the state and was forced to go on the run. [Cable and X-Force #1-4]
Piotr started to slide into his depressive ways again, as he began to blame himself for the deaths of the meat plant workers. Domino, another of his teammates, tried to lift his mood by taking him drinking and explaining that the men would have died no matter what. Her upbeat attitude worked and, after a great many tequilas, the two ended up having sex in a hotel room. After a night of fun, Piotr had a new outlook on things and decided to hand himself in to the authorities. [Cable and X-Force #5]
Piotr was placed in the Raft, a maximum security prison for powered individuals, to await trial. Wolverine rushed to his side to give his old friend any help he needed, but Piotr was adamant that he needed to pay for his crimes. He was even visited by Kitty, who left him a note explaining that she understood why he was doing it and that she hoped he would find peace. Piotr’s redemptive path wasn’t to last though, as X-Force still had need of him, only not in an 
active way. Cable had received another vision of Earth being annihilated by an alien race and the trigger for the disaster was an alien being secretly held deep within the Raft. One night in his cell, Piotr received a visit off Domino, who he thought had come to break him out. She flirted with him a bit and even tried to convince him to join her, but she was merely a distraction to lure the guards up to them. The rest of X-Force were attempting to break the alien out of his cell but something went wrong and Domino was forced to go and help. Colossus at first refused to leave his cell but, when the alien kidnapped Domino and the team and flew away on his spaceship, a wave of guilt rushed over the man. SWORD thought that X-Force was working with the alien, so Agent Brand took Colossus and Cable into space to help bring the alien back. Colossus ended up taking the alien on himself and saving his team, whilst also coming to the realization that this is what he should be doing with his life. X-Force managed to give Brand the slip afterwards and Colossus joined them with a newfound outlook on life. [Cable and X-Force #6-8]
X-Force laid low for a while but Cable began to receive more and more visions of deadly incidents about to occur. The Avengers eventually managed to catch up with the team and they were forced to split up to tackle the potential threats Cable saw. Colossus was tasked with 
stopping an ancient sorcerer’s relic from opening a portal to Hell and unleashing a demonic army. Tracking the relic to a vault in Switzerland, Colossus struggled gaining access to the fortified room until Domino joined him. After they broke into the vault, Colossus took the opportunity to address their recent night of passion, but Domino quickly changed the subject. They found the relic but the portal was accidentally opened and the two had to fight the first wave of a demon invasion force. Throughout the fight, Colossus kept on trying to get Domino to open up about her feelings towards him but she constantly shut him down. After closing the portal, the two had a few moments to relax before they escaped the authorities again and Piotr finally got Domino to talk. He convinced her that, despite their histories and the dangerous nature of their lives, it was worth pursuing a relationship with each other. [Cable and X-Force #10, 12]
When Cable was taken prisoner by the Avengers for his supposed crimes at the meat-processing plant, the rest of X-Force attempted to break him out. Colossus was forced to go up against his former teammates Rogue and Havok, who were now working for the Avengers. When Cable shared his visions with him, Havok saw that X-Force was trying to save the world and were the best equipped to do it. Colossus and the rest of the team were let go to continue their work without the threat of imprisonment hanging over them. [Cable and X-Force #13-14]
Colossus’ new relationship was the boost he needed and he was now enjoying life once again. He and Domino were often tasked with working together, such as when they were sent to stop some thieves breaking into the Trask family safe-house. The job didn’t go as smoothly as they had hoped, as they gained the attention of the facility’s defense program, an enormous Sentinel. The two worked well together to dispatch the killer robot and stop the thieves from stealing any of the Trask’s schematics on the machines. [Cable and X-Force #15-17]
Colossus soon crossed swords with more of his former friends when X-Force ran afoul of Storm’s own X-Force team. Cable’s adopted daughter Hope had discovered that her former tormentor Bishop was alive and well and being harbored by Storm’s team. Hope and Bishop ended up locked in battle, as the two X-Force teams squared up against each other. It was the first time Piotr had seen Storm and Psylocke since the Phoenix incident but he remained steadfast in his loyalty to Cable. Things took a strange turn when Cable, Hope and Bishop were kidnapped by Stryfe, Cable’s evil clone. The two X-Force teams joined forces to find their missing teammates and defeat the crazed villain. Afterwards, Colossus and Domino decided to leave the team in an attempt to live a quieter life for a while. [Vendetta crossover]
Eventually, the time came for Piotr to return to the X-Men and he warily walked up the school front door, only to discover his old friend Nightcrawler alive and well. He had barely any time to get settled in before he was whisked away on a mission to Canada to stop an outbreak of the Wendigo curse. Things got out of hand very quickly once they arrived and Colossus was forced to take on a Wendigo-cursed Wolverine. Fortunately, the combined might of Alpha Flight and the X-Men put an end to the disaster before it spread any further. [Amazing X-Men (2nd series) #8-12]
Colossus started to adjust to life amongst the X-Men again but a dark aspect of his past was about to rear its head. The demon-lord Cyttorak had been without an avatar since Magik had rid Colossus of the gem’s influence, and so a psychic call was sent out to all those deemed worthy. Colossus immediately told Storm that the gem was now back on Earth and she quickly assembled a team to deal with the situation. Colossus assumed he would be going but Storm told him in no uncertain terms she did not trust him when it came to the gem. Whilst she loved him very much, his previous track-record made him a liability and he was not allowed anywhere near it, in case he became corrupted yet again. The X-Men set off on their mission, leaving Colossus to brood about things back at the school. Realizing that he needed to be with the team anyway, he convinced Pixie to teleport him to the ancient Korean temple in which the gem resided. Landing in the middle of a battle between the X-Men, the gem’s demonic guardian and a bunch of other potential avatars, Colossus got to work. He managed to stop the previous gem holder, Cain Marko, from touching the mystical artefact and claiming the power for himself. The two men fought but, in-between punches, they revealed that they had both come to destroy the gem so that no-one would ever be tempted by it again. Unbeknownst to everyone else there, Ahmet Abdol, the Living Monolith, had slipped in and claimed the gem for himself, becoming the new Juggernaut.
Colossus and the X-Men could only watch helplessly as the new Juggernaut wreaked havoc across the countryside. It was Colossus who came up with a new plan, though it involved him falling back into his old routine of sacrificing himself for those he loved. Teleporting to Cyttorak’s dimension, he offered himself as Juggernaut again but this time he would show the demon-lord what true destruction was and use the power to kill him. Cyttorak accepted the new offering but, instead of Colossus taking up the mantle once more, he empowered Cain into becoming Juggernaut again. Colossus tried to get through to Cain but the gem’s influence was overwhelming and the two ended up fighting. Juggernaut was more powerful than he had ever been and he threw Colossus around like a rag-doll. Piotr realized that he couldn’t defeat the Juggernaut but he could trap him, so he tricked the unstoppable man into collapsing a cliff onto himself. It would only be a matter of time before the Juggernaut dug himself out, but for now Colossus had won and he hadn’t had to sacrifice himself to do it. [Amazing X-Men (2nd series) #15-19]
Piotr was surprised to receive a visit off Kitty, who had been in space with the Guardians of the Galaxy since they last met. The two made peace after their disastrous date a few months before when Piotr was possessed by the Phoenix. When Kitty told him that she was engaged to Star-Lord, Piotr was noticeably upset but he nevertheless congratulated her all the same. She then revealed she had an ulterior motive for coming, as she was going to act as a buffer as someone else wanted to have a word with him too. Piotr immediately knew who she meant and called for his sister to reveal herself. Illyana appeared and apologized for everything she had done to him and vowed that she had been receiving help for her troubles. After a few tense moments, Piotr embraced his sister, forgiving her for her sins against him. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #600]