X-23 quickly became very protective of Wolverine, attacking his teammate Bishop after he felled Wolverine during a training session. She also took to observing Wolverine on the mansion’s security monitors. During one such viewing, an anomalous energy spike prompted X-23 to investigate. Encountering Spider-Man at the source of the signal, X-23 initially mistook him for an enemy and attacked. The pair ultimately teamed up to save the young mutant Paul Patterson from an alternate reality version of the armored Avenger Iron Man (Tony Stark). The arrival of the heroic Captain America and the super-spy Black Widow helped turn the tide. X-23 secretly followed Wolverine on his investigation of strange activity in the Canadian Rockies. Ambushed by the Hauk’ka, evolved Saurians from the Savage Land, X-23 managed to escape and alert the X-Men. Traveling to the Savage Land, X-23 and the X-Men teamed with the Land’s lord Ka-Zar and his circumstantial allies, the Savage Land Mutates, to prevent the Hauk’ka from destroying human civilization by controlling the weather-manipulating X-Man Storm.Sometime later, X-23 was approached by the cosmic Uni-Power in hopes of making specific use of her healing ability. Although she initially resisted its attempts to bond with her, and she remained reluctant even though it pleaded with her. She ultimately agreed to aid it and became Captain Universe for a brief period of time.
After M-Day, X-23 was one of the few students who hadn’t lost their powers. The depowered students and staff were sent home; however their bus was bombed by anti-mutant religious zealot Reverend William Stryker and his Purifiers. Subsequently, Emma Frost had the surviving students engage in an free-for-all brawl, with those deemed to be the best performers assigned to a new team of trainee X-Men. Despite Frost’s attempts to omit her, X-23 was among those students who made the grade. Shortly afterward, following Stryker’s attack on the depowered students, X-23 heard Dust talking to Icarus, who had fled the Mansion. Dust intended to meet Jay, but Laura told her it was a trap. She eventually had to knock out her roommate to keep her safe. Donning Dust’s burka X-23 came to Stryker’s compound and was shot. After a few minutes spent healing and playing possum, Laura returned to the Mansion to see it being attacked by Purifiers. Laura fought valiantly and helped fend off the intruders.
The kids grew to be more receptive of Laura following her part in stopping Stryker’s attack, in which she single-handedly killed three Purifiers who had incapacitated Surge, Hellion, and Emma Frost. Subsequently, she started to bond with her friends, using her enhanced hearing to find out what happened to Icarus for them, learning that Stryker killed him.
After Surge received a distress call from Forge, X-23 followed the team to Dallas to rescue him from the sentinel Nimrod. At the height of the desperate battle she managed to cut through to the interior of the machine with her claws, allowing the sentinel to be defeated. She was mortally wounded during the battle by Nimrod’s energy blasts and was unable to heal herself. In order to save X-23, Hellion supercharged his telekinetic powers (thanks to Emma Frost’s telepathic unlocking) in order to rush her back to the mansion where she was healed by Elixir.
As Hellion recovered his strength, and found that his power levels had been massively enhanced, Laura kept watch over him. Emma confronted Laura, asking her to leave the school because of the trigger scent. Their confrontation was cut short by Cessily coming to Laura’s defense. Cessily pursued Laura, the two went out for coffee. However, the cafe was attacked by Kimura and her minions, who had come not to capture Laura, but Cessily. Laura went back to the Xavier Institute where Hellion informed he was going with her to attack against the Facility. The two found a facility hideout where Laura interrogated a man at gun point. Julian was shocked when X-23 shot him in the head upon securing the information she needed. After an encounter with Kimura, the two found Cessily in liquid form, barely able to compose herself. They were attacked by Predators and saved by the combined forces of the X-Men and the New X-Men.X-23 aided the X-Men in their fight against the Hulk. X-23 managed to knock over the Hulk and tore his eyes out. Eventually his eyes grew back, and he defeated X-23 by throwing her into a wall.
When Cyclops ordered Wolverine to assemble the new X-Force, X-23 was tossed into the mix. As they caught up to Cable, the Reavers attacked, and X-23 attacked Lady Deathstrike, seemingly killing her. At Muir Island, X-Force attacked the Marauders and Predator X. When Predator X swallowed Logan, X-23 became angry and attacked, and Wolverine finally killed it.
During X-Force’s raid on a Purifer base, Purifer leader Matthew Risman brought out a captive Wolfsbane at gunpoint. While Wolverine called for the team to stand down, X-23 activated a concealed detonator that set off a series of powerful explosives she had planted earlier without telling her teammates. The explosion brought most of the base down around them but Risman was able to escape with Rahne during the chaos. When X-Force regrouped later, Wolverine admonished Laura for being so reckless with the lives of her teammates and for letting Rahne get kidnapped. During their battle against the Purifiers, X-23 was able to complete her mission from Cyclops by killing Risman. X-Force was given a mission to capture the Vanisher and get back the Legacy Virus he managed to get his hands on. X-23 went with Archangel and Wolverine to complete the mission, but it ended in failure. When X-23 tried to kill herself due to becoming infected with the Legacy Virus, Elixir stopped her and got rid of the Legacy Virus.
After the return of the so-called “Mutant Messiah”, Laura began having nightmares of a demonic Wolverine. Cyclops suggests she try volunteering at a nearby halfway house for depowered mutants. Laura blacked out, and found the building burning down around her. She was taken to a hospital, and believed she was responsible for the fire and the deaths of almost all the occupants. Wolverine (currently possessed by a demon) entered and attempted to convince Laura that she has no soul. She stabbed him just as Julian walked in. Following this, Laura decided to leave Utopia to go out and find herself so that she could be more than just a killer. Gambit tracks her down after taking an interest in her, believing that he can help her find herself.They first encounter Miss Sinister who convinces them to come with her to one of Mr. Sinister’s hideouts where she has been taking care of several children that Mr. Sinister experimented on. Miss Sinister betrays them however and reveals that Mr. Sinister has been taking over her body and in order to evade death she attempts to move her consciousness into X-23’s body. The process fails however and Gambit triggers the self-destruct sequence and escapes together with X-23.
Their next journey takes them to Madripoor where they encounter Malcom Colcord who is trying to restart the Weapon X program, as well as Daken, Wolverine’s son. Gambit, X-23 and Daken make an uneasy alliance despite Gambits better judgement and they manage to drive Colcord out. They find out that Colcord has been developing the trigger scent that drives X-23 into a killing rage and has found a way to make it effect ordinary people. They follow the scents trace to Paris where they encounter Wolverine and newly turned vampire Jubilee. They all team up to find the scent and manage it but fail to find the person running things. X-23 also strikes up a new friendship with Jubilee. They next travel to New York where they encounter the Future Foundation. A demon king has escaped from his prison and due to her previous status as host of the Enigma Force X-23 is instrumental in re-imprisoning him. With the help of the Enigma Force, X-23 manages to return him to the dimension that is his prison and escape, saving Valeria Richards in the process and earning the trust of the Future Foundation. She is asked to babysit Valeria and her brother by Sue Storm but is pulled into the Collector’s space ship together with the kids and Hellion who stopped by in order to win Laura back. They manage to defeat the Collector and make their way back but upon returning, Laura breaks all ties with Hellion. She and Gambit eventually part ways, as Laura chooses to go the Avengers Academy, not feeling that she belongs with either X-Men team anymore while Gambit chooses to go to Westchester with Wolverine.
