#stonetag

[sadstonewrites]

update - life and fics

hello friends - my last semester of classes start tomorrow, so I’m going to be a bit slow to post new stories, however I do have one that’s in the works that’s about ready to be posted! I’ve included a short snippet below, let me know what you think!

Power Play

“Enough!”

The room froze and looked down at Lane, who had not moved an inch from their seat but now held the teacup in shaking hands. Very distinctly and very carefully, almost robotically, they stood and placed the teacup on Xavier’s desk. Their hands flexed into white-knuckle fists, then relaxed, then repeated the motion twice. 

“I...I think it would be a good idea…” Lane swallowed, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a huff. “If...we talked about this...not now.”

The room was still as Lane took their seat once again, only to be broken by the Professor lightly clearing his throat and placing his hands on his desk. 

“Well, I believe that is an excellent idea. Mr. Summers, perhaps you and Lane could discuss the conditions of their training at a later time. If you wouldn’t mind showing Mr. Wilson and his associate to the main room, I believe Lane and I need a moment to...diffuse the situation.”

[sadstonewrites]

Life update

so, bit of an update. I’m in my senior year of college amidst a pandemic, and I’m not really sure what’s going on at the moment. In terms of my writing, I’m still going at it, but it’s incredibly slow going. I’d love to continue with it but it just might be a while until anything is fully posted. I’m still planning to be on here and interact with the Colossus Thirst Club ( @master-sass-blast @chromecutie and others) but it just might be a bit until anything is concrete. Hope you all are staying safe!!!

[sadstonewrites]

Celestial Steel: Fractured Psyche

Hello friends :) this is my AO3 work that I have decided to begin crossposting onto tumblr in order to reach a wider audience in the Colossus Thirst Collective, as well as just for fans of Colossus in general. This is a large series and I will be posting it in chunks on here, but the full story is already uploaded onto AO3 if you’re feeling impatient. So, without further ado, here we go! 

Also, just to avoid confusion later on, My OC (Lane) uses they/them pronouns and identifies as nonbinary! 

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) x OC

Rated M

Chapter 1

Police are now engaged in a high speed chase on the interstate involving a pedestrian taxi and a biochemical transport truck that was reportedly hijacked outside of the Belrose Pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, a subsidiary of the Rand Corporation. According to authorities, the truck was reported missing and its driver was found killed in the company loading dock early this morning. It is unknown at this time if the driver of the taxi is aligned with the hijackers -

Piotr Rasputin’s phone rang and he frowned at the caller ID. With a sigh, and a careful press as to not break any of the screen (again), he picked it up.

“Wade-”

“Hey Chromedome, you busy?” Wade’s voice crowed over the speaker.

In the background, Piotr could hear police sirens and Bollywood music playing over a radio. Piotr had to mute the television just to confirm what he was hearing, and groaned at the realization that yes, it was Wade in the taxi involved in the high speed chase. How Dopinder had been able to keep his license was beyond him.

“Wade, please tell me you had nothing to do with what I am seeing on news.”

“Okay, then I won’t tell you. But just if, y’know, you wanted to take a break from jerking off the other X-Men and come on down here, for funsies, that’d be cool.”

Piotr pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and leaned forward into his knees, causing the coach to groan underneath him. “Wade, we have talked about this. Our agreement was that X-Men would allow X-Force to operate and not get involved unless necessary, doing so otherwise is waste of resources and risks endangering -”

“But this is necessary! Okay, that last time with the mattress stores being a front for mutant cage fighting was my bad, but do you have anything better to do?” Wade sighed into the receiver. “Don’t make me admit that I actually need your help with this.”

“What about Cable or Domino -?”

There was the sound of a struggle and Cable’s voice came onto the phone. “We’re already here, big guy.” Cable said, “and he’s actually right about this one. They’re transporting about a hundred barrels of biochemical material in that truck, and something tells me that whatever roadblock they set up isn’t going to be stopping them.”

“A suicide bomber?” Piotr asked, jumping to his feet at the realization.

“Looks like it.” Cable confirmed. “I’ve only picked up one heat signature in the truck cabin, but there’s movement in the back with all the chemicals. Might be hostages.”

“Give me that -” Wade yelled from the background. There was a sound of a struggle and Wade’s voice came back on. “But, yeah. Aren’t the X-Men all about protecting civilians or some shit?”

“Well yes but -”

“But nothing, get off your shiny metal ass and get over here! Bring NTW too, fun for the whole family.”

He hung up and Piotr groaned, shoving his phone back into his pocket. Ellie and Yukio just happened to be walking by, and stuck their heads in at the sight of their mentor standing in the middle of the room.

“Who was that on the phone?” Yukio asked, pulling Ellie into the room behind her.

“Guess,” came Piotr’s defeated reply. He was torn - for Wade to admit he needed help was a cause for concern all on it’s own, but if this turned out to be a bust, it would be his head on the chopping block.

“I thought that after that mattress store fiasco, the deal was that we let them go out and make a mess as long as they clean it up?” Ellie asked, annoyance evident in her voice.

“It is deal. But this might be bigger mess than they can handle.” Piotr stood and walked back out into the hall, the two girls tailing behind him. He reached the elevator and pressed a button, all three stepping inside the metal interior. Ellie pressed the ‘down’ button and turned to face her mentor. “What about Cable and Domino?”

“Already there.”

“Scott isn’t going to like this.” Yukio quietly said, saying what all three of them were thinking. The de-facto leader of the X-Men, Scott had a bone to pick with Deadpool and had banished him from the grounds of the mansion on more than one occasion. Not that anyone had blamed him, especially with the amount of antics that Deadpool had the habit of getting into. He had been the one to raise the issue of using resources for X-Force missions, and as much as everyone thought it was kind of a dick move for doing so, he had a point.

Piotr grimaced, knowing he was already going to be getting an earful about this later. “I trust Deadpool, when he says he needs help, we help. Sometimes for better or worse. But, we are X-Men, it’s what we do. For better or worse.”

They descended into the basement hangar and Ellie and Yukio split off towards their respective lockers to get changed. Piotr practically lived in his uniform - more practical that way - and went ahead to warm up the jet.

“Have you eaten? Had water?” Piotr asked, calling out to the two trainees. “I brought snacks.”

“We’re good,” replied Ellie, stepping out in her suit and following him into the jet. A look from Piotr and she took a bottle of water from his duffel bag, if only to placate him. Yukio took a granola bar as well, just for good measure. Piotr closed the ramp and hit a button, the ceiling above the jet opening up above them.

“Buckle in.” He cautioned, taking the controls into his hands and thrusting them upwards. The jet soundlessly came to life and took off like a shot into the sky, leaving nothing but an empty spot in the hangar.

It didn’t take long for the jet to reach the interstate, cutting through the clouds and flying over the skyline at an extreme speed.

“There’s the truck,” Ellie called back into the cabin of the jet. “And the taxi.”

“And the police.” Yukio replied. Looking out the front windows, sure enough there was a solid line of police cars blocking the end of the highway, and more that were closely following Dopinder’s taxi.

“Get us in closer.” Piotr said, his phone buzzing in his pocket. He picked it up and held the phone back from his ear as Wade’s voice screamed into the receiver.

“Hey Chrome-rad, glad you could make it, we have a plan. Like, a super awesome, blockbuster action movie plan -” There was a shout and Wade’s voice was cut off and replaced by Cable.

“We’re going to pull up beside of it and disconnect the trailer from it’s cab -”

“Would you stop doing that!” Wade’s voice came back on. “Then Cable’s gonna use the force to try and slow the trailer down to keep it from going boom.”

“It’s not the force, Wade.” Cable groaned in the background.

“Would you two knock it off?” Domino’s voice came on the line. “That leaves the cab. We reckon there’s about 500 yards between the cab and the police blockade. How confident are you in your landings?”

“Landings?” Piotr asked, looking out the window to see Dopinder’s cab speeding up to pull beside the truck.

“Not all of us can exactly take a truck to the face and walk it off. Get in front of the truck and stop it. And uh, Good luck.” She hung up.

From outside the window, Piotr could see Wade’s red-clad body hanging halfway out of Dopinder’s taxi, reaching for the small space between the cab and the trailer. He flung himself out of the open door and onto the walkway, frantically beginning to cut the cables connecting the truck to the trailer.

“Bozhe moi. Ellie, bring us in low and open the ramp.”

The jet lurched as Ellie dropped it down lower, Piotr’s stomach lurching likewise. The ramp opened up, the wind rushing into the cabin and the road stretching open below him.

“The trailer is loose!” Yukio yelled from up in the cabin, her soft voice nearly getting lost in the noise of the wind. “Jump!"

There was a horrid screeching sound - Cable’s telekinesis pulling the trailer backwards in an attempt to slow it down. Saying a quick prayer to whomever happened to be listening, Piotr jumped feet first outside the jet into the air, quickly falling to the earth.

[sadstonewrites]

hey so i know this is a really small sideblog for my writing and stuff but this is also my blog, so it should go without saying that we are pro-LGBT, pro-Black Lives, and pretty much anti anything that says anything different. thank you and goodnight, please be safe. 

[sadstonewrites]

Fractured Psyche Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is up! Slowly but surely making sure everything gets posted on here just in case :)

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) x OC

Rated M

Lane woke to the feeling of their gurney moving, looking up from their slumber to see one of the henchmen clad in a hazmat suit. That was different. There was a group of them - one pushing the gurney, one pushing her IV stand alongside, and another taking notes on a clipboard, all in white hazmat suits. That was very different; Lane was small, and usually had only one guard as an escort from various torture rooms and back again. Lane’s eyes adjusted to the surroundings - no bag over their eyes this time, either - it was still lights out.

“Hey, where are we going?” No answer. “Hey!”

“Lane?” Wade’s sleepy voice called out from somewhere closer. They must have been going past his section out into the lab. “Whatshgoingon?”

“Wade!” Lane yelled back, struggling against the bonds on their wrists. “Wade what’s happening?” They twisted their head as far backwards as it would go, desperately trying to find him, as if just seeing him would end the nightmare. “Where are you?”

“Lane?” He was awake now, more desperate. “Lane!” There was a sound like he was struggling against his own bonds, rocking back and forth on his gurney. A loud crash. “Fuck!”

His gurney had fallen outside of the medical blinds, and for the first time, their eyes met. He looked haggard and pale, eyes rimmed red and his face unshaved and gaunt. Had the situation been different, they might have made a joke about it - how he had always sounded so cheerful but really looked like shit. How they both did; Lane doubted that they looked much better.

“Wade!” Lane was screaming now, struggling harder, biting at the hands that descended upon them to try and push them back onto the gurney. They were being pushed further into the bowels of The Workshop, passing more screened rooms and patients who were no doubt being awakened by the commotion

“Somebody!” Lane screamed, quickly exhausting the hope that anyone would be in any condition to help. A hand descended onto their mouth and another fell onto their shoulder. There was a cold swab and a sharp prick on their neck, a sedative no doubt. Everything began to swim sideways. The last thing Lane could make out was a distant voice yelling their name.

_________

“I was really hoping we’d do that with less excitement. God knows that’s the last thing Wilson needs.”

Lane groaned and rolled over onto their stomach. Rolled. Their eyes shot open. No gurney, no straps. No nothing. The room was cushioned - a padded cell - and roughly bigger than a closet. They stood on wobbly legs, it had been a long time since they stood on their own without being hauled away by a guard. Lane could reach out and almost touch the walls on all sides while standing in the middle of the room. No visible door, no vents, no windows. A single light on the ceiling far beyond their reach. The only thing of interest was a single square tile in the middle of the floor, made of a dark metal that was a stark contrast against the cushioned room.

“You like your new accomodations? Built specially for you, just big enough to be cozy. Have to say, I’m quite jealous.”

Ajax. Lane looked around for the source of his smug voice, finding nothing and imagining that there was a speaker hidden somewhere in the room. There had to be a camera as well, something they were watching with. Their fingernails skidded off the surface of the cushions, unable to even manage a rip in the fabric.

“Oh, you’re going to love this. The piece de resistance.”

There was a smooth sound like a sliding door, and the metal tile in the floor opened up. A platform raised itself up from the depths of who knew where, and Lane found themself face to face with...rocks? Several small pebbles, craggy and silver, shiny under the harsh fluorescent lights.  

“Go ahead, they won’t bite.”

Lane swallowed, noting that their mouth tasted almost metallic and their tongue was swollen, and reached for one of the rocks. It was smooth in their hand, they squeezed it in their fist and it was solid, passing it back to the other hand and doing the same. Nothing out of the ordinary. Cold and smooth. Kind of nice to have something from the outside world, actually.

“What am I supposed to do with this? Bash my brains out with it?”

There was a chuckle from somewhere, and Lane wanted nothing more than to throw the rock in Ajax’s face, wherever he was.

“Nothing so barbaric. Those are asteroids from the same belt of cosmic radiation where Richards and his crew had their little accident. Now, they were barely protected by their spaceship, but you’re getting the full dose, little girl.”

Fuck. Lane dropped the rock and it skidded onto the metal platform, jostling the others and sending them around the room. Several hit their feet and they kicked them to the corner, wiping their hands on the grimy medical gown as if it was possible to wipe off the radiation.

“Oh, god. Oh, fuck.” Lane muttered, backing themself into the farthest corner of the cell (which, admittedly, wasn’t far) and hunkering down into a tight ball. How could they have been so stupid? How much radiation had they absorbed already? “Fuck. Shit. Balls. Fuck!”

“Here’s what’s going to happen - we’re going to take bets on what will kill you first, the radiation poisoning or dehydration. You start to show signs of activating a mutation, we let you out. If we remember you.”

“No bathroom or sink or anything?” Lane called out, looking around their surroundings and realizing there was none.

Silence.

“What about food?”

Silence.

“Hello?”

Up above, the light flickered and went out. No lights. No sound except for their own breathing. Nothing except for the rocks that would inevitably kill them.

____________________

It had been three days since they were first shoved inside this prison, but that was assuming that lights out actually coordinated to the passing of days. In reality, Lane had no idea how long they had been in the hole. Radiation poisoning was already taking hold of their body - a pounding headache and spells of nausea that made the room spin, vomiting up nothing but blood and saliva. That did little to help with the dehydration and hunger that gnawed at their stomach. Hair had begun to fall out in clumps that drifted on the floor like tumbleweeds.

Lane leaned over and dry heaved, spitting up bile and blood into the corner they had designated as the bathroom. The rocks had been hastily shoved into another corner but Lane doubted that did anything to lessen the exposure. They spat at them and hobbled into the clean corner of the room they had dubbed ‘bed’.

“Stupid rocks.”

Most concerning to Lane were the burns. Deep red blisters on their hands and several on their feet where the asteroids had made direct contact. They pulsed and itched deep underneath the skin; Lane suspected that was part of the torture, the urge not to scratch and risk infection. It was getting harder to stay conscious longer than a few minutes at a time, and they had taken to poking at the painful spots in order to keep awake.

“Three hundred bottles of beer on the wall, three hundred bottles of beer…” Lane half sing-songed half sighed, scratching at their scalp and coming back with a handful of fine hair. “Take one down, pass it around, three hundred and one bottles of beer on the wall.”

The lights went out and Lane closed their eyes. They missed Wade. Was he still alive? Was anyone out there still alive? Everyone outside could have been dead for all they knew; Ajax had been radio silent since the initial move-in, and it was getting to the point where Lane would’ve been happy to hear even his condescending voice. Or Angel’s low growl. Or...anyone.

Lane wasn’t sure how long they had been asleep when the pain reached its peak and roused them from whatever. They couldn’t do anything except roll over onto their side and wait for it to pass, their insides cramping. Bile rising to their lips. This will pass, this will pass. Except it didn’t pass, it crescendoed. Lane grit their teeth, body on fire and every pulse of their heart sending a new wave of electric pain across their nerves. They couldn’t scream, throat raw from vomiting up stomach acid and blood, and clenching their fists only made it worse.

“Oh, God,” they moaned, backing up into the corner and trying to stand. The blisters on their hands and feet had split, warm fluid spilling onto the floor as they thrashed on the floor.

Several things happened in quick succession. One - Lane looked down at the weeping blisters on their hands and made out a swirling, black mass just underneath the upper layer of raw skin. It moved and pushed like it was alive, pulsating and writhing, trying to escape from underneath their skin. Worse than that, it seemed to almost glow . Two - from high up above, a gas had begun to filter in from an invisible vent hidden in the layers of kevlar and foam that padded the cell. Three - Lane fell to the floor in a heap of limbs and went still.  

[sadstonewrites]

Fractured Psyche Chapter 5

Hey guys! I recently got an ask (who wished to remain private) who asked if it would be ok to ask questions/comment/critique the story. THe answer to that is yes - absolutely! I’m not a perfect writer by any means and although I’m doing this for funsies, I’d absolutely love to hear constructive feedback! Hope you all are doing well and staying safe!

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) x OC

Rated M

Piotr was trying his best not to vomit as he approached Wade’s body, a smoking hole where his chest should be. The beam had shot clean through to where he could see the road on the other side of his body, the edges of his uniform smoldering; the smell was enough to make everyone in the vicinity gag.

Yukio was shaking in Ellie’s arms, Ellie herself looking a bit green at the sight of seeing Wade’s body partially disintegrate in front of her. Dopinder had caught up as well, his taxi parked off to the side of the road, which he was now vomiting beside.

“Aw, dammit. I liked this suit.” Wade croaked, his body already beginning to knit itself back together in a mass of mottled skin. If it was painful, he didn’t let it on. Cable helped to pull him to his feet, unbothered by the grisly sight. “Anyone seen some ribs?”

“Mr. Pool, they are over here.” Dopinder called back, turning away to vomit again.

“Wade, are you alright?” Piotr asked, attempting to swallow his lunch back into his stomach.

“Oh yeah, just peachy. Not like I needed any of those internal organs anyways. Or major sections of my spine.” Wade grunted, “Everyone else okay? Negasonic Tropical Depression? Dopinder?”

“Fine, we’re fine.” Ellie said, her tone void of its usual iciness, clearly shaken up but trying not to show it. Piotr put a hand on her shoulder and softly squeezed it.

“Ellie, breathe. Everything is okay.” Piotr frowned. “It’s my fault, I should have warned you -”

“Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself man of steel.” Wade clapped him on the shoulder, his posture slightly bent as his spine was continuing to reform. “I don’t think anyone saw that light show coming.” Wade asked. “Anyone else tasting metal? Besides you, obviously.”

“Ah shit, Domino.” Cable said in sudden realization, taking off back towards the ruined trailer. There was no sound of gunfire, which could’ve either been a good thing or a bad thing considering the current circumstances. The rest of them took off running, Wade bringing up the rear with a slow hobble as his body reformed.

Domino had indeed stopped firing, and was standing in front of the trailer, looking upwards quizzically.

“They just...dropped.” She said, pointing up towards the roof of the trailer. Even at his height, Piotr had to get up on his toes to see the outline of the black figure laying down on the roof. They weren’t moving, no sign that they were even still conscious.

“I’m picking up vital signs,” Cable said, his cybernetic eye glowing as it scanned over the trailer. “Still alive. Someone needs to go up there.”

“Could be a surprise attack.” Domino murmured. “Catch us with our guard down, blast us with that energy beam.”

“Or they could be hurt.” Yukio offered in a small voice.

All eyes turned to Wade, who crossed his arms over the hole in his suit, his reformed chest exposed beneath. “No way, nuh uh, I already got one suit ruined today.” Wade argued defensively. “Do you know how hard it is to get this fabric in the exact shade of red?”

“I’ll go.” Dopinder announced.

“Gonna nix that one Brown Panther, the last thing we need is another bloodlust, Kirsten Dunst episode.” Wade threw up his hands. “Ah, fuck it, fine. Chrome-dome, give me a leg up.”

“Need to hurry before DMC arrives.” Piotr said, “last thing we need right now.”

“Oof, yeah, I’m with you on that one,” Wade gave a shiver. “I’m still kind of on their shit list after last time. Now, firmly but gently grab my butt and boost me.”

“Wade...no.”

“I mean I wasn’t going to suggest doing it roughly but if you insist -”

“No, I didn’t mean... just hold still.” Piotr grabbed Wade by his waist and hoisted him up effortlessly. Clambering up the side, Wade looked back down at him and mimed a swoon.

“This is the second time you’ve manhandled me today, I must be dreaming.”

“Hurry it up you talking buttplug.” Cable yelled up at him.

“Fine, fine. Alright, let’s see who’s really behind this mask - Old man Jenkins or -”

Piotr caught the cracked helmet as Wade threw it off the side of the trailer; it felt surprisingly lightweight in his hands to have been so sturdy in their fight. He passed it off to Ellie - she was good with tech stuff, maybe she could get something out of it - for safekeeping. From up above, Wade had stopped talking, and from his position on the ground he could see the sudden stiffness in Wade’s demeanor.

“Wade? Are you okay?” He called up. No reply, no smart comment, nothing. That wasn’t a good sign. “Wade?”

“I uh...Oh, my god. Oh my god.” His voice was strained, near hysterical; that was cause enough for Piotr to be alarmed, climbing up the side of the trailer and raising himself up onto his feet.

Wade had the figure’s head resting on in his shoulder, the rest of their body pulled into his lap. With the helmet removed, Piotr could now see their face -  light brown hair shorn short to their head, gaunt and pale. Their skin was the color of candle wax, sallow circles underneath their eyes. In Wade’s arms, it was hard to believe that this still figure had been the one causing all the trouble when it looked like they could barely keep their head up on their own.

“I know   them, they were - we - oh god. This can’t be happening.” Wade groaned, readjusting his position to have the figure sitting up. “Hey, c’mon, you gotta stay with me. Stay with me.”

“What’s the hold up?” Cable shouted from below.

“One minute, please.” Piotr called back, taking a step towards Wade and the person in his arms. He got onto his knees and sank to the roof, eye-level with the mercenary in red. “Wade, I need you to calm down. Are they breathing?”

“Yeah, yeah they’re breathing but it’s all rapid and shallow, and their eyes are all glassy.”

“We need to get back to jet, we can give them proper medical attention there. NTW,”  he called down to the trainee, “prep emergency medical on jet.”

“You got it,” she called back up, running back to the jet with Yukio close behind her.

He turned back to Wade, still holding the mystery person in his arms. “Wade, we need to move to jet. Can you carry her-?”

“Them.” Wade all but shouted, his grip on the body in his arms tightening.

“What?” Piotr blinked.

“They’re not a girl. And...and their name is Lane.”

[sadstonewrites]

Fractured Psyche Chapter 4

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) x OC

Rated M

It was a canister. Barely bigger than a thermos. Lane narrowed their eyes and looked back up at Ajax.

“I know it doesn’t look like much, but believe me, it packs a wallop. Fancy scientist bloke by the name of Richards discovered it in deep space, nearly killed him and his entire crew.”

He turned the canister around and the yellow radiation symbol made their heart skip a beat. Hazardous material. Bad shit.

“Cosmic Radiation. You see, it gave Richards and his friends some fancy abilities, but they did it on accident . Imagine what happens when we aim it at you deliberately. We imagine it’ll be roughly around the same as getting over 10,000 chest x-rays at once. And we’re going to do it until something happens, or you die. Whichever comes first.”

Even Wade had gone silent behind the curtain. The steady beeping of machines and the occasional groan from another bed were the only sounds cutting into the silence. They swallowed.  

“You’re going to give me cancer.” It came out as barely above a whisper.

Ajax shrugged while Angel smirked beside him. “That’s certainly a possibility. Another is that your bones melt down, your skin sloughs off-”

“You’re fucking sick.” Lane rasped in a bitter growl.

He leaned in close enough that they could smell his aftershave; the scent made bile rise in their throat. “Our investors are very interested to see what happens. You have a chance at being the new favorite toy.”

“If I live.”

“And if you don’t we can at least use your body for parts. See you in the morning.”

He turned on his heel and left, Angel in tow. Just like that after handing them a death sentence as casually as discussing the weather. Wade coughed, wet and thick, and then fell silent once again. It sounded too far away, and getting farther. Everything seemed to fade into the peripheral, their vision going fuzzy around the edges and narrowing to a pinhole looking up at the ugly concrete ceiling.

“At least they aren’t putting you in a barrel of radioactive spiders.”

Lane blinked, snapping out of their stupor and turning their head towards Wade’s voice behind the curtain. “What?”

“I said, at least they aren’t putting you in a barrel of spiders. Or Hulk jizz, can you imagine how radioactive that stuff is?”

Lane fell silent. From behind the curtain Wade let out a huff. “Don’t imagine it that hard. I know it’s been a while for all of us and this bondage set up gives a person ideas-.”

Lane’s laugh was dry and small, criminally underused in the weeks that had gone without laughter. They couldn’t remember the last time they had laughed, really laughed. Wade could barely make it out over the din of the laboratory.  

“Oh, god, my last thoughts are going to be of the Hulk’s nutsack when I die. I’m calling it now. Fuck you Wilson.”

“You’re Wel-come!” Wade called back in a sing-songy voice that made Lane chuckle.

“Thanks, Wade.”

“No problem. And hey, if this superhero thing doesn’t work out for you, we can at least be cancer buddies.”

“...You have cancer?”

Lane asked without thinking and immediately wished they could take it back.  Wade had never brought up what made him join the program, but Lane had guessed it was some sort of illness. He would have horrible coughing fits and complained how much it hurt to pee; Lane had never asked. Everyone had their own reasons for coming here.

“Oh yeah, the big C. After clitoris, of course.”

“And so you come...here? This isn’t exactly a state of the art facility.” Lane did it again, wincing as they realized the gravity of their words. “Sorry, ignore that. Drugs talking.”

Wade fell silent and Lane worried that they had lost their only friend. They had come to think of Wade as a friend despite never having seen his face or know anything about him other than love for Tex-Mex food. Then again, Lane had revealed even less about themself. This wasn’t a place to pry into personal business when it could be used against you as a form of torture.

“I…I know.” Wade’s voice broke the silence after a long pause. It was quieter, more thoughtful. “I couldn’t...I didn’t want anyone to watch me die.”

Lane bit the inside of their cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“S’okay. Makes for a pretty cool origin story.” If he was upset, his normal upbeat, borderline sarcastic tone did little to convey it.

Lane snorted. “Cooler than mine.”

“Well, when you become the human version of Chernobyl, maybe you can franchise. Have a team of writers make up a really cool one for you. Dead parents, explosions, the whole sh-bang.”

“If I live.” Lane repeated tonelessly. Jokes about dying were common with Wade’s morbid sense of humor, but this time nobody was laughing. They swallowed, their throat suddenly feeling like sandpaper. There had been certain things Lane had been able to get used to, become accustomed to even - waterboarding, beatings, and getting locked in a freezer to name a few - but this wasn’t a new method of torture. This was a guaranteed death sentence.

“Hey, c’mon don’t talk like that. I’m gonna be right here beside you, and I’ll tell you if you’re dying or not. I’m like one of those cats that can smell death on old people.”

The thought of Wade as a cat made Lane smile, but it was a hollow expression that didn’t quite reach their eyes. “Well, shit, with a power like that, what are you doing here?”

“Like I said. Super Penis. ”

[sadstonewrites]

Fractured Psyche Chapter 3

Chapter 3! Also if it wasn’t clear, this story takes place on two different time periods, switching between POV’s.

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) x OC

Rated M

His body hit the street below, hurtling into the pavement and leaving a sizable crater. Piotr had closed his eyes at the impact, opening them to find the grill of the truck barrelling down at him. In his steel form, he was resistant to most forms of physical damage, but that didn’t mean getting hit by a truck would be pleasant. He set his feet firm into the ground and braced for impact, squaring his broad shoulders and crouching down low with his hands out in front of him.

The initial hit would’ve sent a normal man flying, but as Colossus, he was no normal man. The head of the truck smashed inwards but kept pushing forward, metal and gears warping around him, sparks flying as metal crunched against metal. He grit his teeth, feeling his feet being pushed backwards, struggling to find traction against the truck, pushing against it with all his strength. He could feel it beginning to slow and bared down, hearing the sound of police sirens getting louder behind him - the blockade. They were getting close and still going too fast; he yelled in frustration, digging his feet into the ground and leaning his weight against the speeding hunk of metal. It shrieked in response, but slowed, eventually coming to a stop mere feet from the first of the police cars.

The police had long scattered at the sight of a semi truck barreling towards them with no sign of stopping, those that had been chasing the truck to begin with swerving off at the sign of the jet dropping into view; Piotr was thankful for that, the X-Men and police having a strenuous relationship to begin with. He had been hoping to avoid a possible firefight and needless violence. Speaking of, that left the matter of the truck driver.

Piotr stepped out from the front of the truck - a Piotr-sized indent left in the crushed metal - and to the side. The truck’s doors were crumpled but not crushed, and he reached up to grab the handle, only to have it swing open into his waiting hand.

“There is no need for violence, please calmly step out of the truck and -”

He didn’t get the chance to finish as a bright, white light erupted from inside the cabin and formed itself into a beam, shooting out of the open door and sending him flying off his feet; he flew through the air and crumpled into a heap onto the asphalt several feet back.

“Holy shit!” Wade crowed from somewhere in the distance.  

Piotr got to his feet, slightly dazed at the brute force that had knocked him back; he hadn’t felt anything quite like that since his fight with Juggernaut. His eyes darted back to the truck, falling on a figure that stepped out of the cab and shut the door behind them.

They were small, clad in dark body armor that covered them from head to toe. Their helmet reminded him of something out of a sci-fi movie, a dark visor inset into a sleek, black headpiece. They cut an imposing figure, all dark metal and interlocking plates that spoke of something high tech and dangerous. They were walking towards him purposefully, their fists curled into tight balls

“Stop this, now.” Piotr yelled, his voice low in his chest. “I do not wish to harm -”

They ran at him and leapt, cocking back their fist that began to glow with the same white energy that had knocked him back from the truck. He dodged and grabbed them by their wrist, hoisting them out of the air and throwing them to the pavement hard on their back. If it had hurt, they made no sign of acknowledging it, rolling onto their feet and springing back. Piotr knocked away a blow to his jaw and sent them back to the ground again, but this time they rolled and landed a solid kick to his lower back.  

The mystery assailant was relentless, coming back from every punch he threw with one of their own, dodging and evading his fists with practiced precision, catching him with quick, glowing jabs that dinged against his armor. Even whenever he connected a hit, which he did several times, they just came back for more. He grabbed at them after a particularly heavy swing and hurled them back into the truck, leaving a sizable dent against the metal exterior.

Wade, Cable, and Domino had caught up by now, guns cocked and aimed at the mystery assailant. They were struggling to get up, but still moving.

“Who the fuck is this guy?” Cable grunted, hoisting his gun up and putting his finger on the trigger. “I say we blast them to hell right now.”

“No! We don’t kill.” Piotr yelled, “First rule of X-Men.”

Cable turned to look at Deadpool with a ‘is he serious?’ expression. “Alright, fine, what do you suggest we do with them?”

“Guys, hate to break up your sexual tension, but they’re doing something.” Domino announced, causing Piotr to bring his attention back to the matter at hand.

Sure enough, the attacker was punching something into their arm, which Piotr now realized was actually a command console input into their armor. High tech indeed. From the back of the disconnected trailer there came a low rumble, and from the underneath of the truck several disks detached themselves, propelled by spinning blades, looking like sleek drones. They slid apart into two pieces - a body and a sort of head attachment that was inlaid with a red camera eye. There was more movement, and from inside a body was a barrel attachment that extended itself outwards.

“What the fuck is with this high tech shit?” Deadpool asked, moving to step closer and poke at one with the end of his katana.

“Get down!”

No sooner had Domino yelled that had the drones open fired, shooting out bullets at a high speed from their barrels. Piotr scooped all three of them under him, shielding from the spray of bullets with his armored body.

“That must have been the movement we were seeing on the scans.” Cable yelled over the solid ping-ping-ping of bullets against Piotr’s back. “Can anyone get a clear shot?”

“No, but I have an idea! Up for a little fastball special?” Deadpool yelled into Piotr’s ear.

“What on earth are you talking about?” Piotr yelled back, the steady stream of bullets still hitting his back. Still not painful, but far from pleasant.

“Ugh, just pick me up and throw me at them!”

Domino and Cable scattered for cover as Piotr hoisted up Deadpool and lifted him into the air, Deadpool sitting back on his haunches with his swords extended. With a mighty heft of his shoulders, Piotr threw the red-clad mercenary at the firing drones.

“Oh, yeah!” He whooped, slicing through the air like a bullet and slashing into the drones with his katanas. “Wolverine can suck it!”

The robots fell to the ground in heaps of metal and sparking machinery, Deadpool landing on his feet and looking back over his shoulder. “Now, where’d our little psychopath go?”

“There!” Cable shouted, aiming his gun up high onto the roof of the trailer. “Up on the roof.”

Colossus looked upwards to see the black-clad figure standing right where Cable was pointing. They looked beaten, a crack had appeared in their visor, but had their hands extended, glowing in the white energy, aimed towards - Colossus felt his heart sink to his stomach - Ellie and Yukio. They had landed the jet several yards away and were running up the interstate into the fray.

“Girls, get back!” He yelled, but it was too late.

Wade was sprinting towards the two girls, Domino and Cable had begun firing, and all Colossus could do was watch in horror as the radiant beam of energy blasted from the attacker’s hands and towards his trainees. It hurt to watch, blindingly bright as it erupted into a straight line, heat crackling around the space it occupied as it sliced through the sky.  Bullets were flying, Piotr couldn’t find his voice to tell the mercenaries to stop, and then Wade was flying as well, jumping high up into the path of the beam and catching it square in the chest, less than a foot away from Ellie and Yukio.

He fell back to the earth in a smoking heap of red. He didn’t get up.

“Wade!” Cable was yelling, already holstering his gun and running towards his fallen friend. Piotr was running as well, his heavy footfalls clanking on the asphalt, his heart racing as he reached Wade’s prone body.

[sadstonewrites]

Fractured Psyche Chapter 2

Here we go, chapter 2! 

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin (Colossus) x OC

Rated M

We’re giving you the chance to be a hero. To get out of here and make something of yourself. Give it a thought.”

It felt like ages since the shadowy agent in the expensive suit had spoken those words to Lane. The words seemed to be on repeat now as Lane’s head lolled on the gurney, the latest round of drugs wearing off and leaving them with a mouth full of cotton. They weren’t sure how much of what had been pumped into their system - part of Lane thought it was better than they didn’t know.

More than anything, it just hurt all over. They supposed that meant it was working.

Ajax and Angel had quickly made their introductions to Lane, the bruises and a busted lip a signature calling card of the latter while Ajax preferred his own brand of being an insufferable but also terrifying prick. They weren’t sure how long they had been here, but it had been long enough that they had gotten good at picking out their footsteps.

They were pushing a gurney into the adjacent room, casting shadows on the medical screen as they did so. Plugging in an IV, various machines into another patient (Lane wasn’t sure what they were, patients or prisoners) and giving the usual speech about ‘The Workshop’ as it had come to be called. Making mutants. Heroes. Lane wasn’t so sure anymore.

Their voices faded, the world went dark as Lane fell back into unconsciousness

“Rise and shine, Lane.”

Before they had a chance to react, their eyelid was being wretched open and a penlight shoved into their field of vision.

“Dilation normal, no sign of any outward change. Yet.”

Ajax retracted the light and took some notes on a clipboard, passing it off to Angel who stood at his side.

“And how are we feeling today? Our new cocktail treating you well?”

“Great.” Lane responded tonelessly. The residual grogginess was beginning to wear off, and a dull headache was starting to set into their temples.

“Good. We’ve got some more for you to try, since you’re being such a good girl for us. Isn’t that right, Angel?”

Lane grunted and tried to sit up, their movements limited by the medical restraints that bound them to the gurney.  “S’not a girl.”

Ajax didn’t look up from filling a syringe with some ominously colored liquid. “What was that?”

“I said,” Lane swallowed the dryness in their throat and sat up a bit straighter. Well, as straight as one could while strapped down against their will. “I’m not a girl.”

Ajax chuckled, looking at Lane with his icy blues. He reached out with his free hand and pushed on their forehead, forcing them back onto the bed. “You think we care?”

He brought up the syringe and depressed the plunger, an arc of the dark liquid spraying near Lane’s face. They gagged at the smell of it - harsh and chemical, like burning hair in liquid form. “I could call you a dog for all I care. Would you like that, little girl? To be called a dog instead?”

Lane wasn’t sure if they were doing anything, all these drugs and ritual beatings that were meant to awaken the latent powers inside them, but at that moment they wanted nothing more than to have it work. To melt his stupid face off, strike him with lightning, force-choke him even. But no, all they could do was glare at Ajax’s grinning face.

“Hey shitface, they said they weren’t a girl. The least you could do is respect some pronouns up in this bitch.”

Lane’s eyes shot towards the new voice. Behind the partition they could make out the gurney and the outline of the person on it; a male voice, tired and annoyed, angry even. Lane had lost count of how many times they had rehashed this argument with Ajax, but this was the first time someone else had stepped in.

Ajax sighed, his grin melted away, and nodded his head towards Angel. Angel cracked her knuckles beside him and strode behind the partition; the sound of a fist hitting flesh and a small whimper followed. Lane winced at the sound, having been on the receiving end of Angel’s punches more than once during their time at the farm.

“Enjoy your new roommate, he’s a real talker.”

He pushed the syringe down into the IV port. A burning sensation filled Lane’s veins and took them under into darkness.

_____

“Thanks for that. Earlier.”

“No problem, you’d think with all the estrogen between them they’d be a little more nurturing.”

Lane chuckled softly. It had been a few days before they had the chance to talk to their new roommate; Ajax and Angel had their hands full with him, and as for him, he seemed to treat it like a joke. From what Lane could gather from snippets of conversation, he was a mercenary and not taking things seriously was his forte. Ajax remained cool and collected like always, but Lane could hear the edge in his voice after a session with him.

“He does have a wonderful bosom.”

“That’s what I was going to say!” The voice behind the curtain crowed. Lane wondered how he could still sound so chipper after spending hours locked in a freezer, beaten, and undoubtedly had many more awful things done to him.

An awkward silence fell between them, the lull in conversation punctuated by a scream in some far off corner of the lab. Lane really had no idea how big the space was, having been confined to their own little partitioned area and hooked up to machines, having a bag placed on their head whenever they had been moved to various torture rooms. They guessed that was to disorient them, make sure they had no way to escape.

“How long have you been here?” He asked, and Lane could detect the bit of apprehension in his voice.

Lane bit their lip. They had kept track in the beginning, measuring the days by the various injections or beatings, but after a while, in a place with no windows. . . “I’m not really sure. A month or two, maybe?”

“And no superpowers yet?”

“Nope. But I always was a late bloomer, so.”

The voice sighed.  “I know what you mean. I’m a bit more of a grower than a shower myself.”

“That why you’re here?”

It was his turn to chuckle - weak and forced, like it hurt to do so. A result of various beatings no doubt. “I wish erectile dysfunction was the reason I was here. Two Words. Super. Penis. ”

“Jesus,” Lane groaned at the thought, letting their head slump back onto the padding. “That’s probably the worst superpower you could get.”

“I think you mean best." He replied in a matter-of-fact tone. There was another pause, another scream from somewhere too close for comfort, before he spoke again.“The name’s Wilson, Wade Wilson.”

“Lane. Sorry we couldn’t meet in better circumstances.”

“Oh come on, nothing like a little torture to bond over. Just like summer camp.”

“What type of fucked up summer camp did you go to?”

The overhead industrial lights switched off unceremoniously and the lab was plunged into darkness, save for a few glowing machines and various torture devices running in the distance. Lane shifted, twisting their head to look out through a slit in the medical curtain that partitioned them from the rest of the lab. It was always worse at night, nothing to do in the darkness except let it all wash over you like a cold wave and wait for it to start all over in the morning.

That first night had been the worst, after the very first ‘session’ with one of Ajax’s various cronies when their body had all but given up and ceased functioning. A combination of drugs and electroshock therapy had reduced them to a dribbling mess, screaming internally but unable to lift a finger to wipe the drool off of their chin. It hadn’t gotten easier after that per say, but it did get more tolerable. Became the new normal; any day that hadn’t started with a routine injection or torture device was considered an oddity.

“-and then there was this one time, at band camp I stuck a flute up my-” Wade’s rambling brought Lane out of their thoughts; they hadn’t even noticed he was still talking.

“As much as I love hearing about musical instruments going places they aren’t supposed to,” Lane interjected, “I think I’m going to try and get some sleep.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, that’s important. Need to be fully rested for a full day of torture in the morning. Nighty-night, Lane.”

Lane blinked. They couldn’t remember the last time someone had told them goodnight in a non-threatening way. Hell, they couldn’t remember the last time someone had even talked to them without threatening some form of disembowelment. Holding on to the fleeting moment of kindness, Lane closed their eyes.

“Night, Wade.”