her brainwashing, and to avoid S.H.I.E.L.D. exploiting her as their own weapon. He takes Laura to a bus station and tells Laura to return to Logan. While on the bus, Laura pulls out letters from her mother and begins shedding tears as she reads them. NYX Laura surfaces in New York City and is again brainwashed, this time by a pimp named Zebra Daddy who exploits her as a prostitute catering to sadomasochistic patrons. In her spare time, Laura continues to cut herself with her own claws; unable to free herself from Zebra Daddy's control, she becomes mute and withdrawn. Upon meeting Kiden Nixon, a young mutant with the ability to freeze time when in danger, and Tatiana Caban, a mutant who can take on the physical attributes of whoever and whatever she comes into contact with via their blood, X-23 starts to come to her senses. Although she runs away from Zebra Daddy, he tracks her down. With the aid of her new-found friends (and the mutant named Bobby Soul), Zebra Daddy and his thugs are defeated: Laura kills him to save the lives of her friends. Laura abandons her new friends, but years later would eventually bump into them one last time when on an investigation with Wolverine. X-Men Laura takes a job as a waitress at the mutant-themed "Wannabee's" nightclub in the Mutant Town district of New York. She defends Jade Parisi, daughter of mob boss Don Parisi, against some thugs who berate her for having a mutant boyfriend. Laura kills some of the thugs and helps Jade escape and go into hiding. The deaths inadvertently implicate Wolverine, prompting his teammates to investigate. Laura attacks Wolverine on sight, but he eventually calms her down. She leads the X-Men to Parisi's daughter. After aiding the X-Men against Parisi's mutant enforcer Geech, Laura flees the scene. This encounter is later revealed to be partially arranged between Laura and Wolverine in order for her to encounter and ally with the X-Men without revealing her past. She later returns to help the X-Men save victims of a car accident, after which she is enrolled at the Xavier Institute and assigned a room with Rachel Summers and Kitty Pryde. Laura behaves protectively towards Wolverine, observing him on the mansion's security monitors and even attacking his teammate Bishop after he floors Wolverine during a training session. During one of her sessions at the