HEARTS OF STEEL
by Gunman
Disclaimer: I do not own Colossus, X-Men (DoFP), Clash of the Titans (2010), or their characters.
Summary: Peter encounters the lovely and deadly Medusa in the volcanic temple at the edge of the Underworld.
Inspired by 'Caught In The Web' by FrivolousThoughts, and 'Everyone Loves Spidey' by Maximus-Reborn.
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Chapter 7
Medusa
Colossus just stared at the ruined temple he was in. All around him, large gaps and cracks filled with volcanic lava could be seen. Stone statues amidst destroyed pillars and columns, separated by multiple levels rising up from the ground were all around him.
But the sounds of crackling fire, the slight shift of the volcano's rumblings, and the falling of debris around him were not what he was interested in.
It was the sound of laughter. And that hissing, rattling sound that seemed to spring up all over the place.
As if something was moving around him through the shadows.
Colossus didn't know what was going on, but he knew better than to take chances.
His body quicky transformed from flesh and bone to super-hard organic steel.
Peter had no idea how he had gotten to this place. His last thoughts were of fighting the Sentinels alongside his fellow X-Men, and of being torn apart by the powerful robots.
Was he in hell and now forced to face some terrible horrible creature for his very soul?
Peter never considered himself a bad person, but he wondered what he did to deserve being sent here.
He even wondered if this truly was Hell itself?
But his musings were cut short when he heard the laughter or a woman, and the eerie rattling of what sounded like a snake's tail. That's when it happened.
Arrows pelted his skin, causing him to only turn in the direction that the arrows had come from. They didn't even scratch his metallic body.
Where are you? What are you? And why does this whole place look familiar? It's like something out of an old story. he wondered to himself.
The creature struck, striking at Colossus's hard body and knocking him down. But not by very much. The creature hissed and shrieked, as if in pain. It reared it's body up so that Colossus could see it clearly, even in the strange flickering light of the volcanic fires.
It was Medusa, the gorgon. Once a beautiful woman who had been turned into a snake-woman by the goddess Athena.
Colossus instantly knew her story.
A beautiful woman who had been pursued by the god Poseidon. She had refused his advances, and escaped to Athena's temple hoping that the goddess would protect her, but she did not. Poseidon took her on the cold floor of the temple. Even as Medusa tried out for Athena's help, the disgusted goddess did nothing. She then cursed Medusa and changed her into the gorgon. A half-snake woman with serpents for hair, who's mere gaze could turn a man to stone.
Despite what she had become, Colossus just stared at the woman. He had heard the legends of the lamia, the half-snake women, said to be beautiful despite the lower-half of their bodies being snakes.
Medusa suddenly struck, wrapping her long tail around Colossus's body several times, holding him in place as she moved up close to him and shrieked, the snakes on her heard hissing as she glared hard at him. A strange light shooting out from her eyes as if to shine into his very soul.
Colossus knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to turn him to stone, like she had so many other brave soldiers and hunters and warriors who had come to this place to try and take her head.
However, she was failing to do that even now.
Her petrifying gaze only worked on living flesh, and Colossus's body was now hard steel. Even if it was organic steel, it was still steel.
"I don't think that will work on me." Colossus said as he continued to struggle in her snake-like grip.
"What... are you?" she hissed.
"My name is Peter Rasputin. Some call me Colossus. And you are Medusa, are you not?" he asked.
"I am."
"I know of you. And what happened to you."
"You do?"
"I know of how Poseidon chased you to Athena's temple. How he raped you. How Athena did nothing to help you, but changed you into this... creature." he said.
Medusa hissed and lashed out, throwing Peter away from her and slamming him into several pillars.
"Oww." Colossus groaned as he rose up off his feet. His body was tougher than most rocks and marble pillars, but he could still feel pain. "I guess you're still upset about that, aren't you?"
"Would you not be?" she hissed back at him, though he wasn't sure where she was now. Her voice seemed to be changing locations.
"Yes. I would. I also know that you were condemned to this place, and that you have been here for quite a while."
"Be quiet!" she hissed at him from the left.
"Your story was always the saddest of the old Greek legends. But it doesn't have to be like that for you."
"Be Quiet!" she hissed at him from above.
"I can help you." he said to her.
"Help Me? How?" she hissed, now below him.
"You're alive now. I know what's coming for you. Who is coming for you, and why. I can help you." Colossus said.
"What are you talking about?" she hissed.
"Perseus, the son of Zeus, is coming for your head, to use against The Kraken. The Kraken is going to destroy Argos, and Perseus seeks to destroy Hades by destroying the Kraken. But to do so, he needs your head. Your power to turn flesh into stone."
"Let Him Come! I Will Kill Him As Well!" she hissed, now to his left.
"Even if you did, others will still come for you. It will be a never ending battle. A hunt, for you. I can help you avoid this."
"You speak as if it were history."
"To me, it is."
"Why would you do this, for me?" she asked.
"Because... a long time ago, my mentor, Professor Xavier, taught me that helping people change their lives, their destinies, was worth the long hard road in which we walk. All the stories I've heard of you, regard you as a monster first, and victim second. If you'll allow me to help you, think of what could be accomplished with this?"
Medusa said nothing, even as the crackle and rumbling of the volcano pits around them filled the air.
For several seconds, then minutes, nothing was spoken. Until Medusa moved up behind Colossus.
"I have no need of your pity." she said, getting him to turn around to face her.
"I'm not asking for you pity. Only your understanding. And hopefully, your friendship." he said to her.
"Why? Why offer this to me? I'm a monster!" she hissed.
"Some people say the same about me, and my kind." he said.
"Your kind?" she hissed and got into his face. "At least you look human. At least you would not be outcast, ridiculed, hunted like an animal."
"Oh, but I have been. Where I come from, me and my kind, mutants, are hunted. Slaughtered and enslaved. All because we have powers that humans do not. Believe me, I understand you better than you think." he said to her.
It was then that Colossus's metal skin shift and changed, back into his human form.
Medusa gasped when she saw this.
Now was her chance. She could easily turn him into a stone statue. Like she had done to so many others.
And yet... she paused. Why? Why was she hesitating?
Was it his words that touched her after so many years? Was it the fact that this man was offering her something different than what she had been given so long ago? Was it something else? Elusive and intangible?
He was offering her a chance. He was offering her friendship. Something that no one else had ever done for her before.
Everyone else she had ever encountered had attacked her, feared her, been repulsed by her. But not him.
This man knew her in ways she herself had forgotten, and despite what she had tried to do to him, he was willing to help her. He was laying himself vulnerable to her, and giving her the choice of changing her fate and destiny.
She looked into his eyes, and for the first time in forever, she saw honesty and compassion. He was honestly trying to help her.
And for the first time in nearly forever, Medusa cried.
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Authors Notes:
I'm kinda leaving this open so that I can develop a better ending for later on.
Medusa's story was always one of the saddest in Greek mythology. Turned into a gorgon by a jealous goddess after she had been raped by one of the 'Big Three'. Really rather disgusting, in my opinion.
So, here's hoping that this will lead to a better story and ending for her.
Please read and review.
