DC fans would likely state that X-23 would have no chance against Lady Shiva, while Marvel fans might agree, or state that Laura Kinney would give Lady Shiva all she could handle and then some. In truth, this would be a good fight since both fighters are insanely skilled at martial arts and aren’t known for being easy to take down unless they’re trying to punch way above their weight class. Some would state that Lady Shiva could handle herself better than X-23 when it came to more powerful opponents, but the truth is that both of them would start to falter when taking on various superhumans that wielded power well beyond their capabilities. But the fight between the two of them would be interesting since it would no doubt last for a while and it wouldn’t deliver the kind of ending that a lot of fans might expect. It would be a tough fight to call, but there are advantages that both opponents have that are worth mentioning, and that would give them a bit of an edge when it comes to finishing the fight.
As the clone of Wolverine or his ‘daughter’ as some would say, Laura did inherit Logan’s healing factor, his claws, and his acute senses. But where Logan’s entire skeleton was covered in adamantium during the torturous process that turned him into Weapon X, the only adamantium in Laura’s body is that which covers her claws. That means that despite her increased durability, her bones can break with enough force, which makes her a prime target for someone like Lady Shiva. One of Laura’s saving graces is that her healing factor can heal any damage taken in short order, and she’s also a highly-skilled martial artist as well as an acrobat, meaning that she can match Lady Shiva, at least in part, which would level the playing field just a bit.
In all fairness, pitting a lot of street-level individuals against Lady Shiva doesn’t feel like it would be an act of kindness since this woman has been known to take down her enemies in a brutal fashion, especially since she has a villainous past. But setting someone against Laura doesn’t feel like it would be a step down when it comes to the danger represented since while Lady Shiva is a deadly opponent that can wield weapons and kill with her bare hands equally well, Laura was bred to be a weapon, and can do the same things that her opponent is capable of. In other words, this fight would be a bloody and vicious one no doubt since it feels safe to say that when it comes to sneaking up on each other, Laura would have the edge, meaning that her chance at surprising Lady Shiva would be far better. But unless she could one-shot Shiva, which doesn’t sound like it comes with a high probability, then Shiva would have the chance to do one of the things she does best, which is to anticipate her opponent by watching their body language. This is where Laura might lose the advantage a bit since, despite her tactical ability, she does have the disadvantage of losing her cool like her father at times.
But even with this in mind, Shiva would have to do a serious amount of damage in a short amount of time to put Laura on the ground and keep her there. Unless she knew enough about Laura upon going into this fight, it feels easy to say that Shiva would find herself on her heels eventually as the damage to Laura’s body would keep healing as she continued to fight. One has to remember that this is a fighter that’s been able to bother World War Hulk by slashing his eyes. She did get tossed into a wall by the Hulk as well, and was back up and walking around not too long after. The reason she can heal quicker than Wolverine is that she doesn’t have as much adamantium in her body, which keeps her healing factor working with greater efficiency. This would prove less than optimal for Lady Shiva since whatever damage she might inflict would be healing the moment it was dealt.
Added to that, the fact that Laura can, much like Logan, go longer and harder than even Shiva thanks to that same healing factor, makes this battle a little more uneven. Plus, Laura isn’t going to be sitting still and allowing Shiva to hit her, which only adds to the difficulty for the DC character. At the end of the day, one has to think about it this way: Shiva has to keep hitting and damaging Laura in significant ways while staying out of reach of her deadly claws. Laura, in turn, only has to hit Shiva a few times with her claws, and it’s game over.
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