Real name: Katerina Naomi (Rina) Hoan
Occupation: High School Student
Identity: Known to child welfare authorities as a mutant
Legal status: Illegal alien living under a solid false identity.
Other aliases: Catherine (Rina) Hong, Wild Thing
Place of birth: Madripoor
Marital status: Chasing boys
Known relatives: Jessica Hoan aka Tyger-Tiger (Deceased)
Group affiliation: Misfits (Student at Xavier's Institute)
Base of operations: The X Mansion
First appearance: 08/06/01
History:

Once upon a time, in Madripoor.

There's a special on TV on Madripoor. I was born there. It was my home once.

"Madripoor is an island country in the Ryukyu island chain, a series of islands extending from the Southern tip of Japan to China, dividing the Pacific Ocean from the China Sea. Most of the island is mountainous area, over 90% of which is covered with tropical and subtropical virgin forest. Most of then are literally the untouched jungle. The climate of Madripoor is much closer to tropical than subtropical. Overwhelming rainfall creates tropical rain forest climate here."

Mmm. I can still smell it when I close my eyes. The sweet, vaguely rotten scent of a living jungle, spices, flowers... a riot of flowers. I remember the heat, the rain falling warm against my skin, buzzing of insects. steamy humidity as I breathed. The sweet chill of pool water as I dove in, the curious scent of air conditioning and the liquid cool it flowed down when I went indoors. Mom had a scent too... Jasmine and cinnamon. She would put a little oil from each in her bath water.

I was never that smooth. From the time I was 11 my body has been on a hair kick. Pretty much killed any desire I had for ballet. Even electrolysis didn't keep it down for long. I'll never be smooth and slinky like mom was. The men she dated never seemed to be able to stop touching her skin. It never quite seemed real, it was so very smooth, so soft. I should probably just become a nun now.

"Madripoor is home to many rare species of animals and plants such as "Iriomote lynx", "Serpent eagles", and "Semaruhakogame(turtle)" even today. Like the land, the sea around Iriomote Island has an underwater jungle of coral reefs, offering numerous unique and beautiful places to snorkel and scuba dive, or just enjoy time aboard a boat."

I remember that too. Weightless in the water, every breath bubbling up past my ears, to be replaced by a *click* and a raspy hiss from the regulator in my mouth. A million colors of coral, swarms of fish, thick, sometimes blotting out the light. Look but don't touch. But I remember reaching out... and touching. Searing pain. Then... nothing. I looked at my hand. The cut was closed, healing. It itched alot. By the time I came to the surface, I'd forgotten about it. And when I thought to look again, the cut was gone, utterly, as though it had never been there. Eleven was an interesting year. It made getting my period seem like such a letdown.

"Madripoor's economy is made up of a combination of fishing, tourism, and the export of opium, both legal and illegal"

That's where mom fit in. The velvet glove around the iron fist of the Tiger family operation in Madripoor. That's where the money came from. Every Eden has it's serpent. Mom tried to shield me from what she did. But look, despite popular belief, I'm not stupid. I know there were funerals awfully regularly. I know that many of the men in mom's life, men who would come out on the boat with us, men who spent infinite time at the house just to be near mom... were killers. Or leaders of killers. Even I know Mom was completely shameless when it came to dating to get what she wanted. She told me she'd explain it all some day. She never got the chance.

What I do know about Jessica Hoan, better known as Tyger Tiger, or "mom" is that she came up from nothing, just a girl in the fields of Madripoor. She married young, and she married well, making the fateful connection with the Tiger clan. But whereas her husband and the clan were fairly minor players in the power and money game, Mom was ambitious. And ruthless. At first the ruses were simple - a rumor here, a hired gun there. And then her husband was dead. I don't think she had it done. There was a rumor that she did, but I think she was really in love with him. Mom DID fall in love, sometimes deeply.

Anyway. By the time her husband died, Jessica Hoan was only 16, but she understood the game in her bones, and played it like a master. There was a brief attempt to stop her that could have been a war, but mom's network of infiltration into the other families was so good and so complete that she set them upon each other, each believing the other was secretly allying with her. She had a dozen people quietly rubbed out, and it was over. A few concessions to the survivors of the other clans - well watched positions of power and responsibility, and there were very few problems.

I don't know who my father was. All Mom would tell me about him was he was an American, that he had one eye, and was from New York City. Oh, and that she was pretty sure he was CIA. But whoever he was, he did the deed, and mom surely remembered him fondly. Maybe even loved him. Said I reminded her of him, and it was a compliment. But whoever he was, he did the deed, and in due time along came me.

I sometimes wonder if alot of the way I was brought up wasn't Mom trying to make sure I got to live the life she didn't. A life of beautiful things, of art and music, conversation and manners. Mom learned class well, and made sure I learned it too. Of course, all I wanted to study were gymnastics, ballet, and Kung Fu, in that order, but we both compromised and so I did both. I spent a lot of time studying with various private tutors.

I know mom knew I'm a mutant. I think she suspected from the time the hair problem cropped up and refused to be beaten, and she knew for sure when I told her about the coral. She didn't seem at all surprised. Or displeased. I wonder if my father was a mutant and it showed or something.

The TV show is cutting to news footage. I don't have to look. Can't look. I've seen it a thousand times, and I was *there*.

Tonight the city of Madripoor is in flames, as guerilla forces attempt to free their nation from the control of the drug cartels. Resistance has been heavy, with machine gun fire echoing through the burning ruins as the drug cartel's mercenary armies try to hold what's left of the city. "

That was my home. My mother. Her name was Jessica. Somehow the network of spies had been breached, turned against her.

"The President has issued a press release following the overthrow.:

"My fellow Americans. Today the people of Madripoor, with our help, have struck a blow from which the Tiger drug cartel will not recover. These vicious terror brokers have now been silenced, and the people are now in charge of their own destinies. In the coming months our advisors will continue to work with the people of Madripoor to help them establish a democratic government. I hope you will join with me in applauding the actions of these freedom fighters this night, as they send a message to the drug cartels that cannot be ignored, and make the streets that much safer for our children. Good night, and God Bless."

Freedom fighters? Idiot. Just another family. I could name them. But it might get me killed.

"This morning the MLC declared total victory over the former government of Madripoor. They announce that as soon as the remaining leaders of the Tiger cartel can be located martial law will be lifted and..."

It blurs as I turn off the TV. Fades into silence. I remember her dying. The spray of bullets, blood, and flesh. Stench of gunpowder and blood, and urine as the bullets tore her apart.

I remember hearing a scream inside my head. The scream of something wild, some primal thing. I was frozen. no idea what to do. It knew though. It acted. I remember the world slowing. Remember the sound of bullets tearing through me. It was like moving in a dream, the one where you can only run in slow motion, like the air has become molasses. I remember the motions, slow, but perfectly formed, exactly the way my sensei taught me. Thinking while my hand arched upward. The soft *crunch* as my hand crushed one of the shooter's larynx. The louder crunch as the follow up kick broke his neck. thinking between heartbeats. Then the slow collapse to the floor. Realising it hit just as hard in slow motion as normal. Breathe. Pain. Heart pounding. Head pounding. Praying it would stop.

But it didn't stop. Of course.

I remember Lee grabbing my hand. shoving me into a car. The drive to the airport. I remember the fire fight between Lee and the "freedom fighters". They had us stopped and were making it very clear what they had in mind for me after they killed him. Lee was a good shot. They only got one shot off. Screaming. I remember hunkering down to the floor in the back seat, screaming.

I remember the flight. Looking to Lee. Seeing that he'd soaked his seat with blood. He gave me his wallet. Gave me the envelope and the cash he had. And he gave me my passport, and my social security card, the ones that name me Catherine Hong, and make me an American, daughter of an American serviceman in Okinawa. "Rina, I've been your mother's soldier since I was a boy. I promised her I'd get you to the United States if anything happened to her. She... always wanted you to find your father. Take this money... there's not much left. Keep some for an emergency... so you can leave the city if the cartels look for you there. When you find your father... give him the envelope. Don't open it. It was to be given to him unopened. Promise me." As we crossed over American waters he died. His promise fulfilled. Mine only started.

More blur. Customs. INS. The police. I told them the truth we'd agreed on, that Lee was my uncle, that my parents were American Citizens fleeing the mess in Madripoor. That they hadn't made it out. That he hadn't told me he'd been hit. More blur. Child welfare. Foster families. This is number 4, I think. I loose track.

So now my life is different. American. High School. I wear whatever, learn what I can. No more drug princess for me. And god... I see the other side of the opium world. It's ugly. But self inflicted, you know? Me, I'm doing ok in school, my foster parents are pretty reasonable. They don't understand me... I mean, he's an ad artist, and she's a grade school principal, they don't even really live on the same planet I do. But they're ok.

I still wake up screaming some nights. Ironically I usually dream about killing the shooter more than mom dying. Screaming because... in the dream... it almost feels good. Have to get outside then. Pajamas or no. Have to get outside. My current foster family is cool with this. I climb out the window and up the fire escape to the roof. It's never really dark in the city, especially in infrared. Did I mention I can see in infrared? I don't think so. I just started noticing it recently. I expect I'll mutate into the creature from the Fly in the end. That the Wild Thing will be all that's left.

Sometimes I venture further out, restless. The Wild Thing, the killing thing gnawing at me from inside. Can't sleep. Need to get into open space, with the ground under my feet, and my head filled with the smells of living things. They're cool with this too. As long as I don't get in trouble and my grades are good. And as long as I'm home by curfew on school nights. I think they're gearing up to have "the talk" with me. They think I don't know. But I hear them together. Smell them. I can't stop it, it's not a big apartment and the walls are thin.

At school, like I said, I do pretty well. I think Mr Flyme in History thinks I'm lazy. Says I've got all kinds of potential if I'd apply it better. That I drift away sometimes in history class. Imagine that.

Obviously I'm not turning this paper in for English class. It would almost certainly get me deported, if I didn't get killed first. I'll have to bash out something else, some happy little lie about who I am, where I come from, and all that. Maybe I'll write about the castle on Okinawa. It's the only part of that island I ever actually saw.

Height: 5'1 Weight: 130
Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Unusual physical characteristics: Rina's retinas are much more reflective than normal, which makes them glow when the light is at certain angles, and makes it nearly impossible to get a photograph of her without "redeye". Rina also cannot fully straighten her fingers due to the presence of claws within them. Rina also has "fangs" - rather pointed canine teeth. While Rina does not have an abnormal amount of body hair, both it and her head hair grow very rapidly.
Strength level: Rina can lift a thousand pounds. While this is not *quite* superhuman, it is rather unusual for someone her size. Rina also approaches the human limits of dexterity, endurance, balance and speed.
Known superhuman powers: Rina regenerates much in the fashion of Wolverine. She has claws, approximately two inches long, sheathed in each finger and toe. She has enhanced senses of smell, touch, hearing, vision, and presumably taste.
Other abilities: Rina is a moderately skilled martial artist, a good student, and is reading up on how to brew beer. She writes reasonably well, knows a little ballet and some gymnastics, and understands the essentials for running a mafia-style criminal organization. She speaks English and Japanese fluently, although her English accent is mid-American flat, and her Japanese accent would suggest she's from Okinawa.
Weapons and paraphernalia: Nothing out of the ordinary for a high school student in NYC. (Um... a nail file?)
Other notes: