Tabby's Mind and How to Break It
Canonically, even without the wonderful mind-screw that NEXTWAVE presents, Tabby's pretty messed up in the tradition of all good superheroes. I'll make a list here, if you'd like!
Four Main Issues
1) Abandonment
Tabby's parents were not approving at all of her mutant powers, so she became a street-rat at 13. The rest of her life's been full of betrayal and loss ever since then. The Vanisher, who taught her how to steal, turned out to be a sleaze; Rusty and Skids defected to the MLF; Rictor left her for Rahne; Sam left her for the X-Men; Sabretooth used her to escape confinement; and on and on and on. She's spunky and she's kept on going, but it's hard for Tabby to really trust someone to stay around, since everyone's always leaving.
2) Self-Esteem
Because of 1, Tabby's self-esteem is pretty damn low. At the heart of it, she's sure that the reason why no one stays around is because she's just not good enough for them to do so. She tries and tries to re-make herself, changing her name and her outfits and her hairstyles, but nothing ever seems to work because people keep leaving. Even though she doesn't consciously acknowledge it, she quite honestly hates herself.
3) Lying
Tabby lies a lot. In her mind, it's better to lie about what's happened and what she can do rather than let someone know that she's feeling like crap or that she's hurt herself or that she just can't do something because she doesn't want people to think that she's not good enough. It's the self-esteem issue thing again. Now, this wouldn't be a major issue, only she's gotten to the point where lying's the default, rather than the exception, so she doesn't really notice when she's doing it. It makes it really easy to catch her fibbing and when she's caught, it reminds her that she's really not quite as awesome as she'd like to think she is.
4) Stealing
Tabby steals things. Originally it was a survival tactic, but it became a useful skill (being able to snag the keys to your cuffs off the guards is always handy) and her kleptomania was only enhanced by H.A.T.E.'s conditioning. In the end, Tabby needs things in order to feel comfortable. People will always leave you, but shoes will stay on your feet until you throw them away. It's a control thing.
How to Break Her
Tabby talks a lot and puts up a "I'm gorgeous, I'm smart, I'm fantastic, everyone should love me" front, but in reality, once you get past that, she's frighteningly easy to break because she measures her worth by seeing what other people think of her. In the end, if you really want to freak her out, all you have to do is stick her in a waking dream where everyone she loves glares down at her and tells her that they've realized that she's not worth loving anymore. She will freak the fuck out, guaranteed. For extra mental scarring, make sure you have some sort of scene where Sam pushes her away and pulls another woman to his side. If you know who Lila Cheney is, she'd be the best bet but, really, any phantom girl would do.
Four Main Issues
1) Abandonment
Tabby's parents were not approving at all of her mutant powers, so she became a street-rat at 13. The rest of her life's been full of betrayal and loss ever since then. The Vanisher, who taught her how to steal, turned out to be a sleaze; Rusty and Skids defected to the MLF; Rictor left her for Rahne; Sam left her for the X-Men; Sabretooth used her to escape confinement; and on and on and on. She's spunky and she's kept on going, but it's hard for Tabby to really trust someone to stay around, since everyone's always leaving.
2) Self-Esteem
Because of 1, Tabby's self-esteem is pretty damn low. At the heart of it, she's sure that the reason why no one stays around is because she's just not good enough for them to do so. She tries and tries to re-make herself, changing her name and her outfits and her hairstyles, but nothing ever seems to work because people keep leaving. Even though she doesn't consciously acknowledge it, she quite honestly hates herself.
3) Lying
Tabby lies a lot. In her mind, it's better to lie about what's happened and what she can do rather than let someone know that she's feeling like crap or that she's hurt herself or that she just can't do something because she doesn't want people to think that she's not good enough. It's the self-esteem issue thing again. Now, this wouldn't be a major issue, only she's gotten to the point where lying's the default, rather than the exception, so she doesn't really notice when she's doing it. It makes it really easy to catch her fibbing and when she's caught, it reminds her that she's really not quite as awesome as she'd like to think she is.
4) Stealing
Tabby steals things. Originally it was a survival tactic, but it became a useful skill (being able to snag the keys to your cuffs off the guards is always handy) and her kleptomania was only enhanced by H.A.T.E.'s conditioning. In the end, Tabby needs things in order to feel comfortable. People will always leave you, but shoes will stay on your feet until you throw them away. It's a control thing.
How to Break Her
Tabby talks a lot and puts up a "I'm gorgeous, I'm smart, I'm fantastic, everyone should love me" front, but in reality, once you get past that, she's frighteningly easy to break because she measures her worth by seeing what other people think of her. In the end, if you really want to freak her out, all you have to do is stick her in a waking dream where everyone she loves glares down at her and tells her that they've realized that she's not worth loving anymore. She will freak the fuck out, guaranteed. For extra mental scarring, make sure you have some sort of scene where Sam pushes her away and pulls another woman to his side. If you know who Lila Cheney is, she'd be the best bet but, really, any phantom girl would do.