Black Blast

Robert "Bob" Poppins is a supervillain currently under the alias Black Blast. First a member of Mario Valentine's gang, he would later be taken in by the supervillain The Termite and given gauntlets that make concussive blasts.

History

Robert Poppins was born sometime in 1995 in the state of Washington. He grew up with a troubled youth, bullying children in school as he had no parental figures to guide him. He soon fell in with local gangs in the Portland area, and eventually came into the employ of Mario Valentine, one of the few remaining mafia gangsters in the area. He would serve as his enforcer due to his strength.

First encounter with Emerald-Man

In 2022, him and his fellow gangsters went to antagonize Barnes Jewelry at the behest of his boss, trying to extort it's new owner, Stephen Barnes. He would be threatened by Carolina White, the accountant there. He would report this to his boss, and then returned to have Carolina roughed up. She tried to warn Stephen of what happened, who turned to his Emerald-Man alter-ego to try and intercept the gangsters. Emerald-Man defeated Bob's associates, but would be taken off-guard by Bob, who proceeded to shoot him. He thought Emerald-Man was dead, and reported this back to his boss.   Bob and his fellow gangsters would then kidnap Carolina again, and ransacked Barnes Jewelry. They planned to rough up Carolina more at Valentine's own building. However, they would be intercepted by Emerald-Man (much to Bob's surprised), who proceeded to fight the gang despite having a concussion. Bob would attack Emerald-Man from behind the head, gaining an advantage over him. Emerald-Man would be too stunned to fight back. But as Valentine threatened to kill Carolina and pointed a gun at Emerald-Man, the hero summoned an earthquake, injuring Bob and Valentine, and escaped with Carolina. Bob and the gang would proceed to be arrested shortly afterward.

Working for the Termite

In the following year, Bob would be sentenced to jail for his crimes, serving his sentence. In the spring of 2024, he was picking up trash on the side of the road, but would be freed from his ankle monitor by one of the Termite's drones. Bob fled from the security, eventually hiding in a warehouse. There, he met the Termite, who threatened Bob to work for him. Bob complied. The Termite assigned him to steal a prototype microchip, and outfitted Bob with gauntlets that created concussive blasts.   Now as the supervillain Black Blast, Bob hijacked the delivery truck for the prototype chip. He would be intercepted by Emerald-Man. He tried to drive away, but Emerald-Man conjured a barrier to stop him. Black Blast came out of the car to confront Emerald-Man, whom he blasted at point-blank range. The blast broke Emerald-Man's rib, and the hero struggled to fight off Black Blast. As Black Blast was about to kill Emerald-Man at Termite's command, he would be drop-kicked by the Sapphire-Swan. He proceeded to duel her, but she would come out on top, delivering a knock-out kick to the jaw. Presumably, he was arrested afterward.

Powers

Black Blast doesn't have natural powers. Rather, he uses high-tech gauntlets that create concussive, black-colored blasts to defeat his foes. These are infused with black magic, posing a threat to characters like Emerald-Man, even despite how dangerous they are to normal people. However, without these gauntlets, he is a regular man.