BIOGRAPHY - Page 10
Piotr needn’t have bothered, though, because events were transpiring that would completely destroy everything he was holding on to. The X-Men learned that the Phoenix Force was returning to Earth and many of the mutants believed that it would be the catalyst that would restart the mutant race. When it became apparent that Hope Summers would be the likely host, 
the Avengers were naturally worried what that would mean for the planet. The Avengers and X-Men clashed over the next course of action, with things turning violent on the shores of Utopia. Colossus was one of the first into the fight, as Magneto launched him into the Avengers’ helicarrier, destroying the ship and earning the rage of the Red Hulk. The two goliaths fell into the ocean and started a brutal fight. When the Red Hulk gained the upper hand, Piotr gave in to Cyttorak’s urges and became more demonic, growing in size until he towered over the Hulk. As Colossus lost control, he slammed the Hulk into the underwater pillar that held Utopia at water level and prevented it from sinking. Realizing what would happen if they continued, he allowed himself to be knocked unconscious rather than endanger his home. [Avengers vs X-Men #1-2, Uncanny X-Men (2nd series) #11]
Piotr recovered just in time to make his escape with the rest of the X-Men, as they were now wanted by the Avengers. Realizing that both sides wanted her for their own means, Hope had escaped from both of them. She managed to conceal her true location, forcing the two teams to spread their members out across the world in a bid to find her. Colossus was tasked with searching Latveria but his team ran into a group of Avengers also scouting out the area. Spider-Man decided to try and take Colossus down but was unprepared for the X-Man’s increased strength and brutality. After Hope was located at the Blue Area of the Moon, Colossus went there with a small group of X-Men to bring Hope home. Unfortunately, the Avengers also tracked Hope there and another fight raged between the two sides until they were interrupted by the arrival of the Phoenix Force. It looked certain that Hope was about to be possessed, until Iron Man activated a weapon he had built to destroy the Phoenix. However, when he shot the cosmic entity, something went wrong. Instead of being destroyed, the Phoenix Force split into five fragments, each one inhabiting one of the X-Men. Colossus suddenly found himself empowered with another god-like entity, only this one had seemingly pushed Cyttorak’s influence into the background. Colossus and the other four possessed X-Men, Cyclops, Namor, 
Emma Frost and his sister Magik, were soon dubbed “the Phoenix Five.” They took Hope and flew back to Earth with the intention of using their newfound power to heal the Earth. [Avengers vs X-Men #3-5, AvX: Vs #2-3, Uncanny X-Men (2nd series) #13]
Whilst Cyclops seemed to still be in charge of the Phoenix Five, Colossus and the rest set out transforming the world in ways they could never before. Colossus travelled to Russia and set up enormous biodomes that allowed crops to be grown in conditions that would have never allowed it before. He even managed to talk to the electrical villain Zzzax and convince the creature to use his powers to provide power to Eastern Europe. After tackling plights like energy crises, drought and hunger, the Phoenix Five turned their attention to the warmongers of the world. They, along with the other X-Men, destroyed many of the world’s nuclear weapons and machines of war. Despite their apparent altruism, the Avengers didn’t see the Phoenix Five’s actions in a positive light, as they knew it was only a matter of time before the power they possessed corrupted them.
Colossus was concerned about another corruption to his soul, though, and it was that of Cyttorak’s influence. He had Magic teleport them both to Cyttorak’s realm, where Colossus 
argued that, by having the Phoenix Force inside him, he was no longer a suitable avatar for the demon-lord. Surprisingly, Cyttorak disagreed and told Colossus that he had actually become his favorite avatar in thousands of years. The destruction that he had already caused was pleasing enough, but now he was empowered by another force that would only increase his destructive capability. Colossus tried to force Cyttorak to take the power back but the deity told him that a demon-lord was a master of his domain and Piotr had no choice. With that, he was kicked out of the Crimson Cosmos to continue Cyttorak’s work, with the demon’s blessing.
The Phoenix Five were still working hard to clean up the world when Sinister reappeared and made threats against Hope. Deciding to eradicate the villain once and for all, they travelled to Sinister’s subterranean base and laid waste to it. However, they were caught off guard by how prepared Sinister was for their arrival. Despite the power they possessed, Colossus and the other four were captured and placed in a machine that began to syphon the Phoenix out of them. Still, it was soon Sinister’s turn to be unprepared when the Phoenix inside the X-Men fought back, destroying the machine and vaporizing the villain. [Avengers vs X-Men #6, Uncanny X-Men (2nd series) #15-17]
The Avengers’ fears were starting to be realized, as the Phoenix Five started to become more violent and forceful in their confrontations. When Hope was taken by the Avengers, the Phoenix Five launched an attack to get her back and things quickly turned bloody. The Scarlet Witch, the woman responsible for depowering the mutants on M-day, managed to severely hurt Magik, which alarmed the young woman. As the others argued about what to do, Colossus remained quiet, often letting Magik talk for him. More fights with the Avengers followed with many prisoners being taken, but the cracks were starting to grow between the Phoenix Five. Namor, one of the more confrontational members of the Five, had finally had enough of being attacked by the Avengers and launched a devastating attack on Wakanda. He was beaten into submission by the Avengers to such a degree that the fragment of the Phoenix he possessed left him and split between the four remaining members. Colossus could feel he was even more powerful than before and quickly realized that, if three of the others fell too, then the last one standing would be in full possession of the Phoenix Force. [Avengers vs X-Men #7-8]
The corruption to Colossus’ mind only grew with the added Phoenix Force fragment but he was too delusional to see its effects himself. Something else weighed on his mind, as despite 
bringing about world peace he still wasn’t truly happy and he soon realized what the problem was. Travelling to the Jean Grey School in Westchester, he boldly walked up to the door and asked Kitty out on a date again. His ex-girlfriend was shocked and so, not wanting to cause a potentially deadly scene at the school, she agreed. The date started off nice enough and it became obvious Piotr could not see his actions for what they were but Kitty played along. Eventually, she couldn’t keep up with the façade and the two began to argue about how the Phoenix Five had been enforcing peace. Colossus started to become angry and soon lost control of his senses, threatening Kitty and the Westchester school. In a mad tirade, he declared himself Phoenix before suddenly realizing what was happening to him. Ashamed of his actions, he left without saying another word and wandered the Arctic for a while as he contemplated what he had become. [Wolverine and the X-Men (1st series) #14]
Colossus eventually rejoined the other Phoenix hosts and continued their task of tracking down and capturing the Avengers. Together, Colossus and Magik even brought down the mighty Thor and imprisoned him in a chunk of Limbo Magik had brought to Earth. Knowing that the few 
Avengers still free would try and break their teammates out, the siblings waited patiently. Sure enough, the Avengers tried to sneak in but Colossus spotted them and immediately attacked. Professor Xavier was with the group and tried to get through to his former pupils, but the two were not willing to listen. The Avengers managed to escape with some of their captured friends but Spider-Man was left behind. The web-crawler took a valiant stand against Colossus and Magik, continuing to stand up and resist them even as the two beat him to a bloody pulp. Colossus begged for him to stay down, causing Magik to remark that her brother seemed to be going soft, as she was more than willing to kill Spider-Man. Colossus believed his sister was buckling under the Phoenix’s power and the two started to argue. With a little manipulation from Spider-Man, the argument turned violent as they both decided to knock the other out in the hopes of claiming their part of the Phoenix Force. Unfortunately for them, they both ended up losing control of their Phoenix fragments, which subsequently went to Emma and Cyclops. Afterwards, the two unconscious siblings were captured by the Avengers and held for their crimes. [Avengers vs X-Men #9]
The two caught a lucky break when Cyclops attacked the Avengers’ base looking for revenge, allowing Magik to teleport herself and Piotr out of there whilst no one was looking. The moment they landed in Siberia, Colossus broke down over the weight of the crimes he had committed whilst possessed by the Phoenix and declared himself a monster. Instead of his sister disagreeing with him, she seemed relieved that he had come to that conclusion. Magik explained to a confused Piotr that, although he loved her, he could never understand what it was like to be her. So, when she had originally offered herself to be Cyttorak’s avatar, she had 
known fully well that Piotr wouldn’t allow it and would offer himself up instead. She wanted him to feel what true damnation was like and to see that “there were no snowflakes in Hell.” Stunned by her confession, he declared her insane and she broke down in relief that he finally understood who she was. The gravity of Illyana’s actions quickly dawned on Piotr and, within an instant, he was overcome with rage. Channeling Cyttorak’s power, he attacked Illyana but she teleported them both to Limbo instead of fighting back. Once there, she summoned her soul-sword and slashed her brother across the chest, purging Cyttorak’s influence from him. As he lay on the floor, she reminded him of the words the demon had told them a while back, “A Hell-lord is master of their own domain.” Realizing that she could have rid him of Cyttorak’s power months before, he calmly told her that if they ever met again he would kill her. Magik didn’t seem phased by his threat and teleported away, leaving Piotr to dwell on all the recent events. [Uncanny X-Men (2nd series) #18, 20]
After claiming Piotr and Illyana’s fragments of the Phoenix Force, Cyclops managed to claim Emma’s fragment too and becme Dark Phoenix. In the final battle between him and the rest of Earth’s heroes, Cyclops was finally stopped but in the process Professor Xavier was killed. With the crisis over, the other members of the Phoenix Five were wanted criminals, so Colossus chose to stay low for a while. However, thanks to a tip-off from Illyana, Storm tracked Piotr down to a cave in Siberia, where he was still going over all the things that had happened to him. After speaking with him, she decided not to turn him in to the authorities, as he was just as much of a victim in the whole incident. [Avengers vs X-Men #10-12, AvX: Consequences #4]