Re: Fanwankin' Time It still doesn't make Rucka's "doting wife" bullshit work, but some things don't deserve fanwanking...
It can with more wanking. Let me explain.
Barbara was killed in the fight with Ballesteros. Gail has recently reminded us that Barbara sold her to Neron. Where would she have ended up when she died?
Yes. Hell. Exactly.
The suffering she endured there knocked her way the Hell off her game (pun definitely intended). So, when Uzkartaga used his power to haul her out of there, she was absurdly grateful, which explains the "loving wife" bullshit. The mental trauma of Hell screwed her up that much. Uzkartaga probably loved Cheetah 3.0 more than either recent variation, because she was a) faithful and b) kept him fed. I hold that her "affair" with Zolomon was emotional rather than physical, because of her trauma and his fixation on his ex.
The reason Uzkartaga raised her in the first place is simple: his sole remaining priest was kinda fixated on her, and he could see why. Barbara Minerva is impressive by any standard, and would make a terrific servant if only he could... nudge her. Not enough to dull her edge, but enough to keep her grateful for what he did for her. That would explain why she was the Cheetah all the time in this period; he couldn't get at her when she wasn't drawing on the power.
Of course, she is still Barbara Minerva. At some point she realized just what she had become, and why, and threw herself into a drawn out, frequently painful process of taking back control. She's done it before, but this time was different because a) she didn't have Diana's help and b) dealing with Uzkartaga now is loads different from dealing with the Cheetah then because he's now sapient (and more than a little like Dr. Psycho). The struggle between the two took its toll on the Cheetah's power level because Uzkartaga tried to make her obey by severely restricting the power she could draw on. By the time she was sent to Planet Australia, she was barely more than a mortal, although Uzkartaga turned the juice back on when it looked like she was going to die.
Eventually, the good doctor bested the plant god, and is now the scheming superpowered menace we have seen under Gail's pen.
So, why did she want the card? Well, I have a theory of my own. We haven't seen Chuma since before Minerva died. Assume, for the moment, that Uzkartaga's resurrection came at a price. Minerva sold her soul to Neron for Chuma, so he's perfectly within his rights to make Uzkartaga choose between his bride and his last priest. Uzkartaga chose the bride, and now that Minerva's in control she has decided that she wants the little worm back, which means dealing with Neron again. However, she's not about to owe him again, so she needs to think outside the box, which is where the card comes in. It's a get out of Hell free card. Her soul is hers once more, but she's not interested in her soul this time.
So, there's the card. I don't know what's up with Genocide, but we don't have the full story yet. We don't know the true nature of the good doctor's grand design.