MIKHAIL RASPUTIN: Page 3 of 3

BIOGRAPHY - Page 3

Mikhail Rasputin eventually returned from the void, through means unspeakable and mysterious. He emerged towards the onset of the Age of Krakoa, a time when Piotr and his X-Men forged a nation for all mutants on the living island. In exchange for miraculous new drugs grown from flowers found only on Krakoa, the mutant nation asked other nations to recognize their sovereignty and citizenship for all mutants who wanted to join Krakoa. Russia was one of the few nations who refused to become trade partners with Krakoa, and Mikhail chose to ally himself with his homeland, rather than reuniting with his brother and sister on Krakoa. Much about Mikhail’s motivations has not been disclosed, but it seems to come down to ego and jealousy. Whatever genuine but conditional love he had for Piotr, Mikhail wanted to be heralded for his own greatness, not fall into the shadow of his little brother.

Mikhail presented himself to Russia’s government in secret, claiming to be a loyal son of the Rodina and willing to fight the Krakoans on behalf of the State. He offered to oversee the mutants of Russia as assets of the State rather than lose them to this new country. Mikhail received the support of his government and a sizeable war chest, which he used to forge alliances with other foes of Krakoa like Brazil, Madripoor and the human supremacists of Xeno, led by the Man with the Peacock Tattoo. The first attack on Krakoa’s sovereignty and assassination of Charles Xavier came from Xeno’s Reavers paid for by Mikhail. [X-Force (6th series) #1-3] He financed a nationalist army of Russian soldiers and bio-engineered meat puppets acting as the “Flower Cartel,” intercepting transport of Krakoan drugs for re-sale on the black market or reverse engineering. They created their own street drug called “Pollen,” which came from Krakoan samples. [Wolverine (7th series) #1-3]

However, Mikhail’s most insidious plan involved his own brother, Colossus. He discovered a Russian mutant writer known as the Chronicler. Using threats and his own alcoholism against him, Mikhail forced the Chronicler to serve his will, keeping the man permanently isolated in a spatial void of his own devising. The man’s writing could reshape reality around his given muse, orchestrating events and actions to suit his prose. Mikhail talked for hours with the Chronicler about Piotr, explaining his brother as only a brother could. From this inspiration, the Chronicler could write about Piotr and remotely impose on his behavior, turning Colossus into a sleeper agent against Krakoa unwittingly loyal to Mikhail’s Russia.

The connection between Colossus and the Chronicler was not psychic-based, but a form of entwined reality. The Chronicler knew what his muse was thinking and doing, but it left no trace in Piotr’s mind or memory where Krakoan telepaths could find traces. As a painter, Mikhail directed Piotr to craft vivid art of key scenes or locations on Krakoa, then sell his art on the open market where Mikhail’s people could buy it up and receive discreet messages from inside the enemy camp. Mikhail claimed Piotr would be loyal to him and Russia if approached, but this method created deniability for Colossus to operate without being suspected. Who knows, deep down perhaps he even believed this.

Mikhail relied on Colossus mostly as a spy, using him sparingly as an active agent. When a Reaver from Xeno survived the raid on Krakoa, they were left open for telepathic interrogation. Piotr was recovering in the Healing Gardens at the same time, so Mikhail directed him to asphyxiate the man discreetly, making it look like he expired from the wounds he received from Wolverine. [X-Force (6th series) #3] Domino was also traumatized after being captured and experimented on by the Man with the Peacock Tattoo, leaving her with memories of Mikhail buried beneath a haze of pain and drugs. When she died, destroying Xeno’s mobile flesh shop, Mikhail had Piotr instruct the Five that Neena wanted to be resurrected without those memories, to “move past her trauma.” [X-Force (6th series) #9, 37]

Xeno showed weakness after Domino dismantled their operation, and Mikhail moved from financier to overlord of the group. He used raw power to dismantle the democracy which supported the Peacock Tattooed Man, installing himself as leader. [X-Force (6th series) #8] Playing games within games, Mikhail planned for Flower Cartel bio-shop soldiers captured by X-Force to infiltrate Krakoa. Their corpses released incrementally smaller figures, like a Russian nesting doll, causing chaos on the island. After accessing X-Force’s database at the Pointe, their true purpose was to acquire the Cerebro Sword. This blade was a refashioned version of Xavier’s headpiece that contained all the accumulated data of the active system. One of the nesting dolls thrust the sword into Kid Omega and kicked him through a Krakoan gate to the Kremlin, where Mikhail was waiting to seize a pair of prizes now. [X-Force (6th series) #11]

The Man with the Peacock Tattoo tried to retain his authority over Xeno, but Mikhail was no longer in the mood to share. The tattooed man upgraded his bodyguard with homemade bio-implants, but Mikhail merely turned the enforcer into stone and shattered him. He laid out his philosophy that Krakoa was the enemy, not mutants, and impressed upon Xeno the value of working with mutants whose interests aligned with theirs. He was unbothered by the attempt at rebellion, and turned over his prizes to the Man. He expected Xeno would find good use for the Cerebro Sword and the corpse of an Omega-class mutant. [X-Force (6th series) #12]

Mikhail continued to expand his empire. Xeno turned Quire’s corpse into a psychic bio-weapon for a time. [X-Force (6th series) #17-19] His evaluation of the Cerebro Sword would have benefited from the use of Shi’ar logic diamonds, but his mercenaries failed to acquire them from the Hellfire Gala. [X-Force (6th series) #20, Wolverine (7th series) #14] He continued to buy biotech soldiers off of Xeno, but the attitude of the Man with the Peacock Tattoo irked him. Mikhail cast the man into one of his spatial voids as punishment for his back talk. Thanks to the reality-bending words of the Chronicler, his standing at the Kremlin was phenomenal. Soon a second constitution existed which drafted up the human and mutant nations of Russia, clasping hands and reaching for the future of a united Russia. Now, Mikhail Rasputin controlled his own nation within a nation. [X-Force (6th series) #23]

Mikhail continued to control his Chronicler with threats and alcohol, bringing his puppet brother to the next stage of his plans. Colossus had gone into relative seclusion as a farmer for Krakoa’s Savage Land fields, meeting a mutant woman named Kayla as an alibi and distraction. Mikhail needed Piotr to be able to move more freely now, though, so the Chronicler scripted Kayla finding Piotr’s contraband art and Colossus murdering her to keep the secret. [X-Force (6th series) #24] Mikhail’s plans received a surprising boost when Charles Xavier recruited Colossus for an empty seat on the Quiet Council. Now Rasputin’s pawn was one of twelve mutants guiding the course of his rival nation. [Inferno (2nd series) #2]

Mikhail’s analysis of the Cerebro Sword continued, and he recovered data from its link to the Cerebro hub. He discovered some useful information that Russian mutant Omega Red was resurrected with modifications done by the Five without his knowledge. Arkady Rossovich was under the mesmerized spell of the vampire lord Dracula, forcing him to spy on Krakoa. When Beast of X-Force discovered this, he had Omega Red killed and resurrected without knowledge of his death, while the C-Synth device in his chest was modified to record sound and track his location, letting X-Force gather intelligence on the Vampire Nation through the unwitting triple agent. The Krakoans’ betrayal of their own was only made worse when Arkady later came forward and revealed his connection to the vampires willingly, asking for X-Force’s help.

Sensing an opportunity, Mikhail leaked information to X-Force about an intelligence asset to be found in Moscow. Omega Red was working for X-Force as a trial member, letting Mikhail get him alone during the hunt. He used his powers to reach inside Arkady’s chest and disable the modifications to the C-Synth, warning Arkady not to trust his new allies. Back on Krakoa, Omega Red forced his way into the Hatchery and confirmed Mikhail’s tale with Arbor Magna’s own records. A furious Omega Red returned to Russia to make allies of the mutants in his homeland. Mikhail welcomed his new comrade and had a plan already in mind to seek revenge on Krakoa for them both.

At the mutant Russia capital in Siberia, Mikhail shared his plans for vengeance with Omega Red. Mikhail could use the Cerebro Sword and its connective network (combined with a liberal use of his own highly adaptable powers) to transmit Arkady’s mind back through time. Omega Red would be able to manifest his mind and powers through host bodies in order to take revenge on Charles Xavier and prevent his dream of Krakoa from ever being formed. However, Sage and Xavier detected the intrusion on the Cerebro network and reasoned out what was happening. To protect the professor and the Xavier line, they transmitted the mind of Wolverine into different points in his past. The young Logan would then intercept Omega Red’s hosts at multiple points throughout history to prevent Charles Xavier or his ancestors from dying prematurely.

The process was draining on Wolverine and his guides, Charles Xavier and Jean Grey. Eventually, Logan’s spirit weakened enough for Omega Red to possess Logan’s own body in the past and present simultaneously. This allowed Mikhail to reach through Wolverine and attack them on Krakoa too. Still, Logan proved strong enough to fight back, forcing Mikhail and Arkady out of the network and frying the Cerebro Sword in the process. For his failures throughout time, Mikhail abandoned Omega Red in Siberia, folding space to move his capital elsewhere just before Wolverine arrived seeking justice. This failure was Mikhail’s too, and it significantly weakened his good standing with the Kremlin. [X Lives of Wolverine #1-5]

Mikhail Rasputin’s influence over Krakoa’s Quiet Council grew as the stalwart, trustworthy Colossus continued to receive accolades and important responsibilities. As X-Force Chief Intelligence Officer, Beast carried out extreme moral compromises and non-judicial actions, sidestepping the Quiet Council and the Three Laws to the point that he fled Krakoa to continue his shadow ops with no oversight whatsoever. The Quiet Council acknowledged they had been too lax with overseeing X-Force and decided to appoint a liaison to the new CIO Sage for X-Force’s future. Colossus volunteered for the liaison position, and now Mikhail had direct access to Krakoa’s political workings and intelligence network. [X-Force (6th series) #39]

Through Colossus, Mikhail did a great deal to undermine the public image and government of Krakoa. As a member of the Quiet Council, Mister Sinister hatched a plot to take over the minds of anyone who went through resurrection, then sell access to resurrection to the rest of the world. This led to a timeline where Earth was hopelessly corrupted by Krakoa as a viper in their midst. The timeline was aborted, but Colossus pressed the Quiet Council to release the details of the Sinister timeline to the world. Piotr cited ethical concerns and transparency, but it was Mikhail who truly drove this initiative. The public backlash was extreme and entirely expected. This and other matters left the Quiet Council broken, believing they no longer had the faith of the world or their people, and planned to disband in favor of a new government after the Hellfire Gala. [Immortal X-Men #12-13]

Instead, Mikhail and Piotr planned to ambush and eliminate the Quiet Council and the major mutant figures of Krakoa at the Gala. Piotr planted a gate seed on Mykines where the Gala was held, opening up directly into Mikhail’s void base. One thousand Xeno-engineered super-soldiers were assembled to storm the Gala and wipe out the opposition. Colossus used his position as X-Force liaison to keep the team from their usual role as on-site security for the Gala. Instead, he instructed Sage and X-Force to perform remote observation of the Gala and deploy only when necessary, keeping them out of sight for “diplomatic reasons” after Beast’s recent terrorism. However, this carefully orchestrated scheme fell apart when Nimrod and Orchis attacked the Gala first. Colossus and the Chronicler lacked proper instruction from Mikhail on how to pivot, and so Piotr led X-Force through the Russian gate instead. Following Colossus’s lead, half his team was trapped in Mikhail’s void along with his puppet. [X-Force (6th series) #43]

With Krakoa now fallen by other means, Mikhail struggled to regroup and concoct a new plan for seizing power. He trapped Kid Omega, Wolverine and Omega Red in his spatial void for months while deciding what to do with them. He turned to the Chronicler and asked his scribe to change focus, finding a potential puppet among Orchis whom they could manipulate the way they did Colossus. The Chronciler balked at the idea – the narrative nature of his power required him to reach a sense of conclusion with Piotr’s “story arc.” For him to simply abandon Piotr and begin writing for another character, the sudden abandonment might cause Colossus to fall into a coma or even die. Mikhail was grasping at straws at this point, and he showed no remorse over the possible fate of his brother.

Through stolen Orchis personnel files, they identified a potential muse named Jun Wei, a soldier who often observed but rarely interacted directly with Orchis’ command petals. Mikhail’s impressions of Piotr were enough for the Chronicler that time, but to build a connection with a stranger he needed to communicate with her personally. Mikhail had Colossus kidnap his replacement from Orchis’ space station, leaving her with the Chronicler for study and banishing Piotr to elsewhere in the void. While an impatient Mikhail hovered over the Chronicler, his writer had grown tired of being a slave. He used the minimal connection he already had with Jun Wei to make her pull a concealed firearm and shoot to kill, striking Mikhail several times in the chest. These fatal wounds caused Mikhail’s void to begin collapsing as he instinctively transported away from the Chronicler towards the pocket where Piotr was wrestling with his broken conditioning.

Mikhail pleaded with Piotr for help, earnestly believing the bonds of blood would excuse his role in his brother’s torment over the last few months. Colossus was disgusted with Mikhail, but he had too much blood on his hands to kill again. His hesitation gave Mikhail time to heal his own wounds with his powers, and the rejuvenated Rasputin lunged at his brother. As Rasputin battered Rasputin, Mikhail harped upon his losses in life, the greatness which had always been denied him despite his superiority. His fragile ego and raw emotion showed how he embraced madness rather than accept that his little brother could ever have achieved more than him. Mikhail struck Piotr repeatedly with his matter manipulation powers, until he seemed to have the upper hand and felt free to boast some more about his supremacy. Meanwhile, Piotr had grown quiet, to marshal his strength for what was next. Colossus thrust his fist into the chest of his surprised brother, literally ripping Mikhail’s heart out. Mikhail’s lifeless body fell deeper into the void as the void itself collapsed around them, depositing Colossus, the Chronicler and X-Force back into the normal plane. [X-Force (6th series) #44-46]

The void was gone, but Mikhail Rasputin had already healed himself once that day. It remains to be seen whether he might one day return.