Baron Brimstone
Tremble in fear, mere mortals, at the feats of Baron Brimstone! Thrill as he comes and goes in a wisp of smoke, disables his enemies with but a gesture of his hand, and deflects bullets with his enchanted cone! With his sinister Satan Squad, Brimstone intends to rule over the criminal underworld just as the Devil rules over Hell!
That's the line, at least. Baron Brimstone certainly knows his showmanship, but at least some of his mystical feats are accomplished by the advanced technology he wears under his cape – but he'll never tell which. Regardless, he is a brilliant tactician, never short on resources, and definitely dangerous when pushed to desperation.
Fiction
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Baron Brimstone materialised out of a puff of smoke in the labs of the Chem-Solar corporation, where scientists were testing the Sol-Mac – a solar-powered microwave transmitter capable of piercing reinforced titanium steel. At first zapping the scientists with his finger bolts, he was soon cornered by Chem-Solar's security guards, but he avoided their bullets with an enchanted cone and knocked them out with a spell of slumber. It was then that he was aggravated by Machine Man. At first shocked by the robotic being, Brimstone shot a bolt to his chest as a distraction so he could grab the Sol-Mac, which really did some damage to Machine Man's inner workings. Fortunately for the mechanical marvel, Brimstone considered murder a last resort and he fled, leaving Machine Man with a fatal warning not to cross his path again.
Baron Brimstone deigned to appear to a warehouse full of thugs who had heard about a new supervillainous employer. The goons, egged on by Duke Dawson, started to riot at the boastful sorcerer, but Brimstone had brought along crowd control in the form of his lieutenants, Hammer Harrison and Snake Marston. Satisfied at this demonstration of their power, Brimstone withdrew, offering the gangsters the choice between joining them and getting rich or suffering damnation eternal. After reconvening in his luxury penthouse with Hammer and Snake, Brimstone and the Satan Squad began a carefully co-ordinated crime spree to steal the right components in order mass produce the Sol-Mac make a fortune.
Weeks later, the scheme nearly concluded at the cathedral of St. Gabriella of the Highlands, the famous golden bell of which would provide ample radiation shielding for the Baron's purposes. The Satan Squad was caught in the act by Machine Man and quickly incapacitated. From their waiting helicopter, Brimstone played his next move: driven to desperation, he pushed out Pamela Quinn, a Delmar Insurance employee who had dug too deep into his plans. After saving Pamela, Machine Man boarded the helicopter and, despite once again getting blasted by the Sol-Mac, rendered Baron Brimstone unconscious by electrifying the entire ship using its own power source. Machine Man admitted to Brimstone's inert form his concern that he still didn't know how much of his power was magical and how much was smoke and mirrors. Baron Brimstone and his Sinister Satan Squad!
In the immediate aftermath, Machine Man retraced the steps that led to his left arm going missing, including the Baron pushing Pamela from the chopper. Arms and the Robot!
