X-23

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a2/a8/39/a2a8398b5ea29dda43f44bb531a06d7a.jpg"Align="right">Name: Laura Kinney

Code Name: X-23

Age: 18

Power & Special Skills: X-23 is the female clone of the legendary Wolverine. Consequently, her mutant powers are similar to his. Like Wolverine, X-23’s primary mutant ability is an accelerated healing factor that allows her to regenerate damaged or destroyed tissues with far greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. Injuries such as gunshot wounds, slashes and puncture wounds head within a matter of minutes. Her healing power is developed to such a degree that X-23 can now reattach severed limbs. She has also been shown to be able to regrow limbs though such a feat takes time and strength. X-23 once severed her own hand to escape the confines placed on her by an enemy. The hand took it’s time to grow back but it did so eventually without a flaw. X-23 can generally regrow a limb within 48 hours. The effects of her accelerated healing powers extend to her body's immune system, rendering her immune to disease and infection. She is also immune to most drugs and toxins, although she can be affected by certain drugs if given in sufficient dosage.

Due the effects of X-23’s mutant healing factors, her physical senses, strength and stamina, agility and reflexes are all heightened to superhuman levels. Like Wolverine, X-23 possessed retractable claws sheathed within her forearms. She releases the claws through the tissue of her knuckles, leaving small wounds which are healed instantly upon retraction.  Unlike Wolverine however, X-23 had only two claws that emerge from her fists. She posses a single, retractable claw housed in each foot. These claws are actually made of bone but were forcibly extracted by Zander Rice, coated with Adamantium and reinserted into her body, all without giving the child a single drop of anesthetic but thus was her life. Since her claws are laced with the precious metal, they are virtually unbreakable and are capable of cutting through almost any substance.

A less flashy but probably far more deadly power is X-23 ability to kill without feeling, without remorse and often, without thought. Her upbringing forced the woman t turn cold and hard. It is difficult for her understand why she should not snap the neck of an enemy when others would let him run, the battle being won. When asked how many lives she has taken, X-23 will reply with a shrug. Honestly, she does not know. Death is not something she feels needs to be counted and having slaughtered many enemies at once, even if she did keep track, her numbers would be off.

Born and raised in captivity, X-23 has been trained to become a living weapon. She is highly trained in the use of long range weapons and explosives and is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, with intensive training in numerous armed and unarmed martial arts techniques. She has also been subjected to conditioning in which a specific "trigger scent" has been used to send her into a berserker rage, killing anything in sight; Emma Frost is unsure if this will ever be fully suppressed She is also highly educated and so far has displayed that she is fluent in French and Japanese.

Physical Description: Laura was mixed in a test-tube so any flaw her genetic code may have contained was removed before her birth. The young woman was made to be beautiful and deadly. Her metabolism is high so in theory, she can eat whatever like she likes and burn it of quicker than she can gain weight. Of course Laura very rarely strays outside of her diet. In a way, she is still living under the harsh rule of Doctor Martin Sutter.  Standing at around 5’6, Laura’s body is lean and feline. She weighs around 110lbs, her stomach is flat, her muscles are subtle but her curves are defined. Laura holds a very unimposing figure. Those who do not know her would be forgiven for thinking she could be snapped in two of course that would be the last thought that would ever cross their tiny brains because it isn’t her body that makes her a killing machine, it’s her mind.

Lightly toasted skin is unmarred by scars or cuts; the woman’s healing ability keeps her flesh pristine and pure. The amount of battles she has been in, X-23 should be dead several times over let alone scared and burnt beyond recognition. A set of almonds shaped eyes will stare you down with an eerie sense of knowledge and insanity. Laura’s eyes will often fluctuate between the color brown and a marbled green. It’s unknown whether this is part of her mutation or simply the way she catches the light. Her hair is a cascade of rich, deep, dark brown tresses that end around the middle of her back. Laura’s face is a marvel of sculpture. Her cheek bones are high; her features are feral but stunningly beautiful. The expression that stuns this deadly beauties face is often need of utter serenity. Expressionless but telling so much at the same time. It could be said that Laura has the perfect poker face and if she held any interest in gambling at all, she would be world champion without effort. It is a terrifying thing to see such a calm and stoic face staring at you from beyond the barrel of a gun. The bottom line however is, the girls looks good with a weapon. Be it Samaria sword, Military rifle or simply her very own claws.

Laura has no real understanding of beauty. She isn’t able to comprehend how her body may affect the opposite sex. It took a long time for her to realize that walking around naked was a social taboo, though she still occasionally does it. There are so many rules to remember and there are days when the girl simply doesn’t feel like following them all. Laura doesn’t dress for fashion. She has no comprehension of labels or styles. Her wardrobe is that of a runaway. Every item, every piece can be worn with something else. Laura has spent a great deal of her life running, often having to pack up and leave within a matter of minutes. It is often the case that items of clothing have been left behind. It is part of the reason the girl sticks to dark colors though she has never given it much thought. It just seems practical. Blacks, grays and possibly a slice of purple, Laura’s clothing is functional and casual. Jeans, military boots, simple tops and jackets. Laura’s style allows her the freedom of movement for you never know when you may fall into a murders rage. Laura is not afraid of showing skin. She’s not afraid of anything. For a mission, Laura will wear one of the few tight fitting leather uniforms she has. She doesn’t need baggy sleeves getting in her way when she is trying to dismember a body. Laura is what she is. She has no desire to be something she’s not.

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/88/0c/4f/880c4fd7accfce324596dff15c30e927.jpg"Align="left">
Personality: Upon initially encountering her, X-23 might be mistaken for a typical young woman. She has her good days and her bad days. There are occasions where one would be hard pressed to find fault in her perfect veneer. Around the right company, the girl is capable of laughter and joy. While she may not fully understand these feelings, she does have them. It has taken time however. Fear of being punished for expressing anything human forced the young girl to hide her emotions for many years. There was a time when X-23 would flinch after smiling, half expecting a stern hand to come down across her face.

Upon further examination, X-23 will be revealed as somewhat darker and more complex than first encounter lead you to believe. X-23 is very taciturn, rarely uttering more than one sentence or two at a time. Because she grew up in a controlled environment, she speaks using perfect grammar, without the use of slang. X-23 is broken. She knows this; she also knows that there is no way to find the missing pieces. They were lost long ago. Perhaps that’s the reason she will occasionally stare at a wall, seeing something nobody else does or why she uses her very own claws to cut through her pretty flesh. Yes, X-23 engages in self-injury though you would never know it unless you caught her in the act. Her wounds heal and she’s never left with any scars. X-23 has done this from a very young age when experiencing unusual or intense feelings. Perhaps it is a way she can punish herself. Part of her mind still tells her that she shouldn’t be feeling anything at all.

X-23’s mother, Dr. Sarah Kinney, did her best to ensure the child retained some semblance of humanity, but her efforts appeared to be in vain. X-23 rarely spoke, or expressed much interest in her mother, who was forced to reject any emotional advance the girl might make, such as laying her head in her mother's lap, because of the Facility. Despite the upbringing X-23 received, she has at times shown signs of humanity. In one particular mission when X-23 was assigned to assassinate Martin Sutter and his family, she killed Sutter and his wife without hesitation, but she spared their young son, Henry though she could never give a reason why.

X-23 seems to have taken on a better disposition since joining the Hellion’s. Being a central part of the team has helped her develop a more rooted sense of character and assisted her in understanding the complex emotions of humans. X-23 has formed friendships among the other students. It should come as no surprise that the woman has incredibly strong protective instincts. She has killed before, for the very simple and in her mind logical reason that someone placed their hands on a male mutant, they shouldn’t have. X-23 will protect her friend to the very ends. She has no concept of fear so rushing into battle to save someone close to her is done without a bat of an eyelash.

Background: They say that an animal born in captivity will never full function in the wild. The same could be said for people who were raised as animals. Even though many would say that Weapon X and Wolverine’s creation was a failure, as that he now fights against them, the fact remains, they succeeded in their mission of creation. But an experiment is no good if its results cannot be duplicated and so the Scientist and Doctors without souls began again. Attempting to clone Wolverine with the hope that this time round, they would be able to control their creation. Doctor Martin Sutter recruited renowned mutant geneticist Doctor Sarah Kinney. The task, to clone Wolverine. Sadly, some would say, the only genetic sample from Wolverine was damaged. The Y chromosome was unsalvageable. Dr. Kinney proposed the creation of a female clone but her idea was shot down. Sutter's protégé Doctor Zander Rice, was highly opposed to the idea. Dr Kinney understood however. The only way their experiment would work was if the clone was female. After 22 failed attempts, the 23rd sample yields a viable embryo. While Kinney was allowed to proceed with the female clone, her insubordination was punished by Dr. Rice. She was made to carry the child and be her surrogate Mother. For 9 months the woman’s every move was monitored until finally she gave birth to X-23.

After seven years, Dr. Rice subjects X-23 to radiation poisoning in order to activate her mutant gene. He extracts her claws, coats them with Adamantium, and reinserts them back into her hands and feet - a procedure performed without affording the child any anesthetic. Despite her training her conditioning which began from birth, the procedures were torture, she cried.  A ‘trigger scent’ was created for the child. A particular smell that would send X-23 into a murderous rage. The torture and the experiments continued. It was difficult for Kinney to watch. As much as she had faith in what they were doing, she did not like the way it was being done. She tried not to have feelings for the child but it was impossible. X-23 was her daughter and though any emotions she showed towards the girl or vise-a-versa, Kinney developed a bond. X-23 remembers one particular occasion where the Dr. Kinney smuggled in a small cupcake for what the girls was told was her birthday. She’d never had one of those before.

Eventually the couples bonding was discovered and after Kinney broke X-23 out of The Facility to rescue her kidnapped niece, a task that X-23 did with perfect success, the Dr. was fired and once again X-23 was punished. The structure of power within The Facility was slowly degrading. Dr Rice wished nothing more than to take control of the project. He assigned X-23 to murder his Mentor and his family. X-23 was instructed to keep the mission a secret but the girl reveled to Sarah his intentions. It wasn’t too soon after that Kinney was escorted from the base that she drafted a letter to her daughter, giving the girl her final mission. She was to destroy the 7 other pods, clones like herself, she was to kill Rice. X-23 succeeded with her mission and later met up with her mother. Unbeknownst to the both of them however, prior to his death, Rice exposed Kinney to the trigger scent. Sensing it upon her, X-23 went into a murderous frenzy and kills her mother. As she lies dying, Kinney tells X-23 that her name is Laura and that she loves her. Covered in blood, the girl leaves her Mother’s body and runs, her last instructions were to find other like her and to stay safe.

On the run, Laura was fortunate enough to track down her Mothers sisters. Megan and Debbie took in their niece and for a while they lived happily. It wasn’t long however before Kimura tracked them down. Kimura is probably the only person that Laura held any fear of. As her Handler at The Facility, it was Kimura’s job to torture the girl. She was brutal and cruel. Whether the mission went well or not, X-23 was bullied. Kimura gained great pleasure in slicing off the young girls arm with a chainsaw. The excuse, X-23 had been a bad girl. Kimura managed to infiltrate the small home despite Laura’s best efforts at keeping her at bay. X-23 had her neck snapped and she was handcuffed with Adamantium. She was forced to watch as Kimura threatened the push her finger straight into the heart of the girls Aunt. It was this that gave her the strength to fight. She recovered from her injuries, slicing off her own hand to escape the cuffs. Helping her Aunts to run, Laura reattached her hand, handcuffed Kimura to a radiator, sliced a gas line and lit a flame. She did not look back to see if Kimura was dead.

After being separated from her Aunts, Laura surfaced in New York where her naivety of the outside world caused her to fall into the hand of a Pimp by the name of Zebra Daddy. She works as a prostitute, never actually engaging in sex with men but serves as an expert in cutting masochism. If you wished to be hurt, sliced or bleed, you would go to X-23. The girl continued to cut herself, her mental state fragile at best. She never said a word but she really didn’t need to. She understood well enough what was expected of her. It is unknown why she was never able to free herself from Zebra Daddy. She could have easily killed the man but something kept her there. Perhaps she was tiered. Maybe it was fear. As strong as she was, X-23 was conditioned to fear those that stood over her. It was the meeting of some mutant friends that gave Laura the courage, strength and motivation to escape. Zebra Daddy was not one to let his assets leave so easily. He chased the girl but when he threatened her friends, he made a mistake. X-23 killed the man and his thugs before fleeing once again.

Finding her way to Hellion Academy, it was actually a struggle to get through the doors. Emma Frost was extremely worried about allowing the girl into her school. She knew who Laura was, she knew of her past and she feared for her students. Even if Laura could be trusted, those who hunted her could not. Would she bring death to their doors in her wake? Miss Frost’s heart and her want to help mutants in need won over in the end and X-23 was admitted to the school. Laura has been a member of Hellion academy for over a year now and she’s actually managed to make some friends, as well a romantic relationship with Julian Keller. Somehow he manages to find her odd quirks, adorable. When she mimics his gestures, not understanding that kissing a man on the forehead is not necessarily something she should do, he finds it cute. She wants to show that she cares and she tries but it’s going to take a while for this deadly beauty to catch up with the rest of the social world. Being a part of a team is helping. Laura still finds the emotions she feels frightening and confusing but she’s learning. She’s not evil but perhaps it could be said that she doesn’t fully understand what good is.

In all honestly, Laura was never not hunted. Be it by The Facility who want their experiment back. Kimura, who has vowed to find her, kill her and eliminate anyone she came in contact with. Varies Terrorist groups who would love to use her as their own personal weapon. Extremists, Religious zealots or simply an over excited hero who believes she needs to pay for the crimes she has committed, knowingly or not. The root of the matter is, X-23 is dangerous. She’s unstable and there are very few people in the world that can control her. They broke her mind, they shredded her soul and then they taught her how to kill. She still doesn’t understand. The value of life is a concept that doesn't fully make sense to the girl. They say that nobody has the power to decide who lives and who dies but X-23 has proved time and time again, she has the power.

Important Relationships: Laura finds it difficult to make friends but she has managed to create some solid bonds with several members of Hellion Academy. Laura has a strong if not strange relationship with Wolverine himself. There was a time, when she hated the man and did her very best to kill the man. She was unsuccessful however and the two have become awkwardly close. Wolverine and X-23 share more than genetics. He is perhaps the only one who understands what it was like to be under the control and in the ungiven mercy of a man who showed no remorse in his strive for human weapons. X-23 is very protective over Wolverine even though he does not need her watchful eye. Laura has shown romantic feelings towards only man in her life though it could be said she had somewhat of a crush ion Wolverine, it was an emotion she was not yet ready to understand. Julian Keller somehow managed to see the woman behind the weapon and through no fault of her own she would argue, the two become somehow of a couple. How could she not show feelings for him? After a particularly dangerous mission, X-23 sustained devastating burns that were beyond the point of her body’s ability heal. She managed to destroy the Android Nimrod but when slicing upon his armour, she received the brunt of his energy’s attacks. It was only Hellion’s speed in flight that saved the girls life, getting her back to the School in time to be healed. He saved her life. Laura spent the next little while following the boy around school though she would never let him see her. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was acting the way she was but she knew that he made her smile and despite everything she had been taught, the feeling was nice.

It was one particular incident that had Laura completely twisted and confused though in the end revealed to her the depths of her feelings. Laura was not sure of the reason nor did she honestly care but when she saw Surge kiss Julian in front of the entire school, Laura became enraged with what she would soon learn was jealousy. The girl managed to keep her emotions in check until reaching the bathroom where she proceeded to decimate an entire wall. It was Cessily who found her friend bleeding and huddled in a pile of rubble. Laura explained that she was scared. She didn’t understand the feelings and emotions running through her and she was afraid she was going to hurt someone. Cessily attempted to explain that the reason Laura had gotten so angry was because she liked Julian and it hurt to see him kiss someone else, even if he didn’t start it.

It isn’t clear how Laura and Julian moved on past that day. Somehow their feelings became known. No doubt Julian figured it out eventually. Laura had never been any good at verbalizing her emotions but often in times of weakness they showed all over her face, unbeknownst to the woman herself. He most likely caught her smiling at him one too many times or maybe it was when she walked into a wall when she was staring at him drying off after a run instead of looking where she was going. Either way, they couple became close and while their relationship is unconventional, it works for them.

Character Update: Laura has done a lot since her time at the Hellion Academy. Her closest friend and one could argue first love was kidnapped and mutated by an ancient alien entity. In her search for Julian Laura ended up crossing the wrong corrupt military organization and ended up in a new school for Mutants though she wasn't there to further her education or expand her circle of friends. S.H.E.I.L.D had placed her exactly where they wanted her, under guard for their own nefarious purposes. Like so many before them they wanted to turn Laura and use her for themselves. Laura being Laura wanted none of this and she was far too preoccupied with bringing Julian back than to deal with power hungry idiots.

She soon learnt that not only were S.H.E.I.L.D prepared to threaten her with her trigger scent but that they had known Julian’s location the whole time and so with a motley crew of friends Laura headed off on what could quite possibly be a suicide mission. As it turned out she had come to Julian’s rescue to late and she was forced to end his life before he ended that of her friends. The only good that came from that mission was the formation of a new crew of Mutants. Calling themselves the X-Factor and taking up residence on a sentient ship the band of younglings attempted to make it work with several bumps along the way.

Laura made several new friends, a couple of new crushes and as always a few enemies. She tried to make it work, she really did but after meeting up with and having to say goodbye to her Father Wolverine, it all became too much and she decided to leave. She wasn't like everyone else. She had always known that but it was beginning to seem like she was even an outcast among the outcasts.

Planning to make her way to Paris simply because she had always wanted to see the lights, Laura's free will was once again taken away from her as the shuttle she piloted was snatched up by a wormhole. She doesn't know where she is now or how long she has been there for but her will is beginning to break.  Psychological torture is being applied by a skilled few and she doesn't know how much longer she can hold on. Darkseid is attempting to brainwash her into becoming one of his Female Furies. Knowing that physical torture won’t work on one who has been hurt so much, he is appealing to Laura’s longing for a family. She is currently confused, scared and close to breaking point but there is a hint of light inside of her. How long it lasts,….. who knows.