BIOGRAPHY - Page 6
Colossus‘ story didn’t end there, though. An alien named Ord had learned from his people's technological augury that, a few years down the road, his home, a place called Breakworld, would be destroyed by a mutant, most probably an X-Man. 
Determined to prevent this, he traveled to Earth in order to stop this event before it could happen. Ord snatched Piotr's body from the morgue and replaced it with someone else’s body, which was then cremated. While Shadowcat took these ashes to Russia, Ord revived Colossus with futuristic alien technology and kept him locked up in a prison cell in his base, to run tests and experiments on him. Every few days, Piotr would be gassed, only to wake up strapped to some lab equipment. Eventually, he lost count of the time he spent there, no longer being able to tell whether his was living through this ordeal for weeks, months or even years. Ord, however, found what he was looking for, as he discovered a way to adapt and modify the cure for the Legacy Virus still in Colossus‘ system into a formula that would erase mutant powers.
Working together with S.W.O.R.D., a sub-division of S.H.I.E.L.D., and a world famous geneticist, Ord offered this cure for mutant powers to the public and a large number of mutants were willing to undergo that treatment in exchange for the chance at a normal life. Naturally, this aroused the X-Men’s suspicions and, when they infiltrated Ord’s base, Shadowcat accidentally found her way to the place where Colossus was being held. Once freed, Colossus understandably took out his rage on the guards and Ord himself, brutally beating the alien that had tortured him for so long. The X-Men, especially Kitty, were shocked to see that their long-believed dead teammate still lived. Ord’s machinations uncovered, S.H.I.E.L.D. severed their ties to Ord, though the damage was done and some samples of the “mutant cure“ remained. [Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) #4-6]
Whilst his teammates were happy to have their friend back, Piotr struggled to deal with the trauma he had been through. Fortunately, Shadowcat was there to help him through this time and the two started to get close again, as they had been so many years before. Colossus was recruited into Cyclops’ new “Astonishing” X-Men team and soon found there were no end of crises that his team needed to handle. When the Danger Room’s computer revealed its sentience, built itself a body and escaped into the real-world, Colossus was one of the first ones to take it on. He, along with the rest of the team, were soundly beaten by the robot, which now called itself Danger. They then followed it to Genosha, as it sought out Xavier, against whom it 
held a grudge. In the final fight with Danger, Colossus discovered Xavier knew the Danger Room had been self-aware but had imprisoned the sentience behind the computer programming for the purpose of training his X-Men. Piotr took especial offence to the situation, as he knew all too well what it felt like to be imprisoned against his will. [Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) #7-12]
Ever since his escape, Piotr had been plagued with nightmares of being trapped and he soon began to push those closest to him away. He turned to his hobby of painting for release but, when he tried to paint his own portrait, he saw himself as a twisted monster. When he got word that his cousin Larisa wanted to meet with him, he saw it as a handy distraction and flew to 
Russia to see her. Larisa, a journalist, had survived an attempt on her life and feared that Piotr might also be in danger, having found out that several of their relatives had been killed in suspicious circumstances. Larisa revealed that she had traced their family tree back a few generations and was certain they were both descended from the Grigory Rasputin, the famed mystic and madman. As it stood, only three of Rasputin’s supposed descendants were still alive: Larisa, Piotr and their uncle Vlad. Piotr was skeptical at his connection with the infamous Rasputin but decided to travel with Larisa to find Vlad in case he was also a target.
As they journeyed across Russia, Piotr had time to reflect on the actions of his life and he started to worry that his occasional fits of anger and wavering mental state were symptoms of something more sinister. They eventually found Vlad living as a recluse in the wilderness, but they weren’t they only ones looking for him, as Mister Sinister and Piotr’s supposedly dead brother, Mikhail, also arrived at the cabin. The clearly unstable Vlad surprised Piotr by taking 
Larisa hostage as Sinister calmly explained to the group what was happening. Many years before, he had met Grigory Rasputin and, realizing he was a mutant, decided to use him to birth the perfect race. Piotr’s grandmother was one of many women that Rasputin impregnated in a bid to expand his bloodline as much as he could. Rasputin was eventually murdered by some of his rivals but, before he died, he dispersed his spirit into his numerous children. As the children grew and had children of their own, Rasputin’s influence in each of them became weaker. However, whenever one of the descendants died, the part of Rasputin that resided in them passed into the remaining family. Realizing that Rasputin could be reborn in a new body, Sinister had begun killing off the various other descendants of the Rasputin line, until only one remained.
When Sinister finished explaining, Vlad suddenly set himself on fire and died, despite Piotr’s best efforts to save him. As Vlad passed away, the remaining descendants felt the spirit of Rasputin entering them and instantly knew that Sinister was speaking the truth. Piotr turned his attention to his brother and chastised him for working with the mad scientist. Mikhail told him he had given up trying to make excuses for his past actions and now embraced his destiny. Larisa tried to get through to Mikhail but Sinister killed her before her words could have any effect. Enraged, Piotr attacked Sinister but Mikhail managed to teleport him to another dimension. There the two brothers fought until Mikhail gained the upper hand and trapped Piotr in a cave. Before he left, Mikhail explained that Piotr would die soon enough and that would mean Rasputin could be reborn in himself. The crazed Mikhail was too busy gloating to notice Piotr 
had escaped and was soon knocked down. Piotr was about to murder his brother in a fit of rage but ultimately managed to resist the urge, despite the strong influence Rasputin had on him.
Mikhail teleported away and Piotr was left trapped and alone in a desolate dimension. As he resigned himself to his fate, he was surprised when Mikhail returned, seemingly more in control of his mind than before. Mikhail had seen Sinister’s plan for what it was and had turned against the geneticist and decided to save his brother. They then teleported back to the cabin, where they defeated Sinister together. Afterwards, Mikhail told Piotr that he was going to exile himself to a dimension he could never die in and never return from. That way, if Sinister killed Piotr, then Rasputin would be reborn in a place he could never escape from. Piotr made peace with his brother and watched as his last remaining family member left his life, never to return. A somber Piotr returned to the X-Men, still plagued by his demons but now possessing the knowledge of the reasons why he felt this way. [X-Men: Colossus Bloodline #1-5]
When M-Day hit and most of the world’s mutant population lost their powers, Colossus was one of the relative few to keep his. The Xavier Institute became a refuge for those seeking shelter, as the various enemies of mutantkind were out in force to finish off the remaining few. Colossus put himself on the front line to take on the human extremists the Sapian League and the Purifiers, as well as Apocalypse and his new Horsemen. [House of M (1st series) #8, House of M: Decimation - The Day After #1, X-Men (2nd series) #177-179, #182-185, New X-Men (2nd series) #21-24]
Colossus and the rest of his team became the face of the X-Men and were on hand to take on the re-emerged Phoenix Force. [X-Men: Phoenix Warsong #1-5] With the school constantly under attack, Piotr often took to protecting the students, now the youngest generation of mutants left in the world. When Exodus and the Acolytes attacked the school, Piotr was forced to take on the deadly team himself. Whilst the villains managed to escape, they left the impression that something bigger and world-shattering was on the horizon. [New X-Men (2nd series) #35-36, X-Men (2nd series) #202]
Colossus got the opportunity to flex his muscles when the Hulk came to the school, looking for Xavier. The Green Goliath was in the mood for payback against Xavier’s secret Illuminati team, which had exiled the Hulk into space many months before. Naturally, the X-Men stood in the Hulk’s way but they ultimately fell to the might of the gamma-charged man. Colossus took him on alone but the Hulk’s strength won-out and Piotr had both of his arms broken for his bravery. As he was in metal form, it was difficult to re-set them and he needed to have the metal heated up first before they were snapped back into place. [World War Hulk: X-Men #1-3]