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Honorable Mention: Martina Dementieva
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The woman who would be #125. Kent Nelson, is this biography just an attempt for you to weasel your way out of your debt?

Martina Dementieva is an Eastern European arms dealer who carved out a tiny little corner of Las Vegas for herself, selling high-value items of significant importance. Martina helped supply Checkmate agents in Las Vegas with the inventory necessary to steal the Helm of Fate from the Excalibur, all with the desire to use that Helm to pay off Kents significant debt to Martina. When the battle on the Strip commenced after the heist, Martina tried to warn Kent of what was coming - in this case, Zazzala. But during the uproar, she was grabbed by a thug from Club V and held at gunpoint. Ultimately, when Zazzala arrived, Martina was among those who vacated Las Vegas, sensing greener pastures elsewhere.

Calm, cold and almost entirely emotionless, Martina is my little exploration of what the Black Widow really should be, should someone strip away the heroics from the character. Built entirely on self-sufficiency and survivalism, Martina recognizes the logic in supporting Checkmate over the Society, despite her strong connections that have been constructed around a belief in the Society's enduring domination of North America. Originally from Ukraine, Martina's rough upbringing has only reinforced sentiments that cozying up to power is the smartest move in any situation. Perhaps this is why not only has Martina assessed the spec ops team as a savvier alliance than the oftentimes tumultuous Society, but also why she has clearly chosen to seduce Kent Nelson physically. Knowing that Kent is the next Doctor Fate, Martina seems actually rather open about her reasoning for sleeping with Kent - and Kent seems too deliriously thrilled with the relationship to either recognize or care about her real purposes for being with him.

In fact, that relationship defines what I truly love about Martina - she's manipulative, but brazenly so. She makes no bones about it - she will sleep with Kent, keep him physically content, but also keep him at an arm's length. There's an alpha-beta definition, and Martina is certainly the dominant of the pair, uninterested in intimacy or love, only focused on keeping the Helm of Fate close at all times. Martina is decidedly self-serving, a villain of sorts. Every bit of her plays to the rational, power-hungry arms dealer, and her wily ways, willing to gamble for the sake of advancement in a world decidedly lacking in opportunities for such, always fills me with delight. She is one of the truly equal players to the players, and their back and forth in scenes of dialogue oftentimes provides me a chance to have some who is intellectually on equal footing with the PCs in our campaign.

Now that her plans to start gun running across the planet are beginning to transpire, I think Martina will have a grander role in the success of Checkmate as it gears up for all-out war with Darkseid. And what with the Helm of Fate nearly at her beck and call, I think that will make for entertaining - and perhaps surprising - fare.

Back to #80, the first of a draft class falls.