Gearhead

Origin

During Batman's third year, Nathan Finch was an engineer at General Robotics. He worked on a project called the 'Androcles Program' which is a bionics program. When his boss fired him he kidnapped his daughter Gloria Osteen and demanded ransom. Batman came to the rescue and the fight took place on a frozen lake. Nathan ran from Batman with Gloria but the ice cracked and they both fell into the freezing water. Batman rescued Gloria and went after Finch, seeing Batman's ominous figure scared Finch and underwater he fired his gun at him. In Finches own mind, Batman was simply watching him drown, in reality Batman was dodging Nathan's bullets. Nathan's body drifted underwater and washed ashore somewhere and two people found him and sold him to an underworld doctor named Dr. Bascomb according to his weight. When Finch woke up, the doctor told him he had suffered Frostbite and had to have his limbs removed.

Return

Years later, Gloria is now a grown woman and is now the head of General Robotics. She is still traumatized by her childhood experience and is now completely paranoid and suffers from nightmares of her kidnapping. One night, a thief broke into her building and stole some computer chips, he attacks two guards and was chased by several more. He made his way to the 83rd floor which is the roof. He jumps from roof to the ground. However, the only thing left was a pair of footprints and a mechanical leg.Later, Gloria begins to get phone calls from a mysterious man who claim to have stolen the chips. He hints that he wants something else from her. He informs her that he will call her later. Gloria goes into paranoid state, she orders more patrol teams at General robotics and everyone entering the building to have a cavity and a full background check. She even locks herself in her room with a rifle and all the lights off. Batman comes to her and she tries to hide from him since she's afraid, he asks her to help him, and she tells him its Nathan Finch.

That night, Nathan asks Gloria to come to a construction site with his 'item'. Batman arrives and fights with Finch who can now jump to great distances. He refers to Batman now as 'Vermin'. They both fight with Finch showing super human strength. However, Nathan falls into steel crusher, but as his legs were being crushed Batman grabs him. Nathan then grabs Batman's throat intending for both of them to be crushed with it. Gloria then saves Batman by using a magnetized crane. Nathan then attempts to escape even without his legs. Batman gives him chase and into a sewer. They both fight and Nathan loses one of his arms prompting him to escape.

"Blood in the air, Vermin!"

Several days later, (more like the next issue), we find out how Nathan got all his limbs and abilities. He has cybernetic limbs attached to his body. Dr. Bascomb had him trained with artificial limbs and he himself has upgraded them and has a closet full of spare limbs and legs. As he is chilling out after his encounter with Batman, he sees a nature show about lions. It shows that lions wait while the jackals nails down its prey. Then when the and he plans to do something similar to Batman.

That night, he breaks into another electronics building. This time with some of the security camera's on so Batman will come to him. Sure enough, Batman arrives and calls Nathan 'Gearhead'. Nathan stretches his mechanical arm to a great distance and almost hits Batman with his sharp fingers. Batman dodges it and shoots a <a href="/batarang/18-46297/">Batarang</a> at him. It hits him but Nathan runs from Batman and into his own car. Batman then chases him on the batmobile. The chase leads to a shaded car park, where Nathan releases an small, toy sized, remote controlled car and it drives under the Batmobile and releases a powerful electro-magnetic pulse. This shorts out all of the systems aboard the Batmobile and it violently crashes into a steel pillar. Batman himself is unconscious and bleeding (so much for wearing a seatbelt). Gearhead watches as a street gang comes in, they will unknowingly short out the rest of the remaining defenses and when it is spent he will go after Batman himself.

The gang moves in and one of them wants the car. The car's back up system activates the five phase defense of the car (phase 5: Batmobile self destructs!).One of the gang members tries to jack the car when it electrocutes him senseless(Phase 1). Another one comes in and slams the car with a hammer and the car fires back with a gas (phase 2). Back at the Batcave, Alfred receives a message from the cave computers about Batman and that he is injured and the car has activated the five phase defense system. Alfred hurries over to a van to retrieve Batman. Meanwhile, the gang orders in backup from one of their friends. They bring in a truck titled 'Mother' to haul the Batmobile. Gearhead watches on and says that he will let them 'play' a little longer. The car activates phase 3 and releases a high frequency soundwave. Most of the gang become incapacitated. Alfred meanwhile, passes a red light and is trying to get their faster before the car explodes. The Batmobile activates phase 4 and a gun comes out of the hood and shoots the gang members with glue. Batman begins to recover and shuts down the defense systems and begins to drive away fast. Gearhead angrily goes after him. Alfred arrives to find Batman gone and heads off. The police car come in and finds a half a dozen street gang members super glued to the street.

Nathan chases after Batman at top speed on his car. Batman shoots explosive batarangs at him but it does not stop him. Nathan shoots the batmobile with cannons and the cars hood begins to give. They reach a bridge and Batman releases a smoke screen and before Nathan could recover Batman presses another button and releases an oil slick. Nathan's car skids and slams into the side of the bridge. However, Nathan was not finished, he reveals that he is not driving the car; he is the car. His legs were connected to the car and the car does whatever he thinks. He releases spider legs from the car and jumps on the Batmobile. Nathan goes deeper into insanity and thanks Batman for making him like this while attacking him. He punctures the cars top and windows before starts the car and slams the side of the bridge.

Nathan falls off the Batmobile and the bride and onto a railway. Batman gets out of the car when Alfred arrives. An oncoming train hits Nathans car and destroys it. Alfred stops Batman from going after Nathan. Batman blames himself for not saving him. Alfred tells Batman that he was insane and Nathan himself is responsible for his death.

After they leave we find that Nathan had survived and he crawls out of the grass. He promises Batman he will kill him one day.

Rush City

Syrese Daly calls in Diego Zhao aka Rush because her daughter Aminta is missing. Syrese and her nine year old daughter came to Gotham for clothes shopping and a music store on Amusement Mile that Aminta likes. Syrese and her daughter were separated on a subway platform at Grand Central Station. As they were getting on the Four Express, Aminta loses her Mets cap while getting through the crowd of transit patrons. Syrese goes after her cap and Aminta enters the train. In a split second, Syrese realizes the doors on the train have closed and now is leaving the station with her daughter on board.

Syrese already informed the police but the police will not mobilize until the 24 hr missing person statute has taken its course. Syrese informs Diego that Aminta has Type 1 Diabetes and she will need her injection soon or she will die. Diego meets with Syrese at the Marriott that she and Aminta were staying at. Diego asks for a shot of insulin that he can inject in case he finds Aminta in time. Syrese is hesitant to give him the insulin but Diego assures her that he is a licensed EMT. He also asks for a recent photo of Aminta, Aminta's ball cap and the name of the music store that Aminta likes.

Diego heads to the Noiz Music Store and asks the store clerk if he has seen Aminta. The clerk says he saw Aminta about two hours ago and she left with an older gentleman. Fortunately, the perp used his credit card to buy a few CDs for Aminta. Diego tracks the credit card records to the perp's current address. Diego kicks in the apartment door and pins the perp to the floor with his broken door. Diego interrogates the perp and says that he sold Aminta to a black market dealer named Moto who specializes in stolen organ trades.

Diego knocks out the perp and takes his cell phone then he calls in the Gotham PD for a squad car to swing by to pick up the perp. Diego texts Moto while posing as the perp and tells him about a potential customer who is interested in Aminta. Moto agrees to the meet and Diego sets up a trap for Moto. During the meet, Moto's minivan pulls up to Diego's Porsche. As soon as Diego lowered the tinted window to his car, Moto immediately recognized Diego from his past exploits with the Gotham PD and revved up the engine to his minivan.

Diego chases down the minivan and causes the minivan to crash into a light post. Diego holds Moto at gunpoint and demands the return of Aminta. Diego injects Aminta with the insulin that Syrese gave him. Diego calls in Gotham PD to arrest Moto and tells Syrese to meet Aminta at Gotham Mercy Hospital.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Councilman Bellingame calls in the mechanical menace known as Gearhead who has now bonded with a car of his own design. Bellingame wants Diego taken out and Gearhead's newly developed skills as an underground racer maybe the only way to gain the upper hand on Diego.

Bio from The Batman

Nathan finch used to a celebrity on the underground racing circuit, until an accident crippled him. He grew bitter and angry and lusted for power, until he gained cybernetic parts and nanotechnology from an unknown source and became Gearhead. Gearhead is able to change any kind of vehicle (anything with wheels) into a high-speed machine for his own use. His gear is made up of nanotechnology which allows him to change and move the matter around him, forming the shape and style of vehicle he wants. Gearhead was stopped by Batman and Batgirl after he tried to jack Batman’s new Batmobile. Unfortunately for Gearhead, the new Batmobile came with nano-defense technology, electrocuting Gearhead and shorting him out. Gearhead's voice is done by Will Friedle.