Batman: Safeguards
by Shadow RangerDisclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do not own Batman. This is a fanfiction and no profit is being made from it.
Author's Note: The events in this story are set immediately after the chapter: [[Conquestofevil/Observetheviewingglobe/Thewickedwitch/Mightymorphinpowerrangersi/noclowningaround|No Clowning Around]]. This story also explains why in some of the character pages I create there is a threat assessment written by Batman commenting on possible weaknesses.
Batman: Safeguards
I was shutting down the last of the diagnostics when the Cave lights dipped. Not enough to qualify as a power fluctuation. Just enough to tell me something was about to happen. The Batcomputer let out a chime I did not recognise. Not an alert. Not a warning. A request. Someone wanted to speak.
Before I even reached the keyboard, the transmission was already in the system. Not entering it. Not travelling through it. Appearing.
I began a trace. Then another. Every path looped back into itself. No origin. No route. Nothing that made sense under any known rules of communication or intrusion. The signal sat inside the machine like it had always been there and simply waited for me to notice.
I isolated it. Sandboxed it. Contained it. Then I ran my full battery of scans. Malware. Sound pattern attacks. Psychic resonance. Hidden triggers. All returned clean.
That alone made the hair on the back of my neck rise. Nothing is ever clean.
But some nights you do not get the option of ignoring what stands in front of you.
I opened the channel.
"Batman here."
For a moment the Cave was silent. Then a deep calm voice filled the air.
"Good evening, Mr Wayne."
It hit in a way I do not allow myself to show. Not fear. Not shock. But recognition of a line crossed. He said my name like it was simply the correct way to start a conversation.
"You know who I am," I said. "Identify yourself."
"I am Zordon," the voice replied. "Mentor to the Power Rangers. You assisted them recently."
I stepped closer to the console. The computer screens adjusted themselves as if accepting a new presence within them.
"You found me," I said. "Few do."
"I have watched over Earth for a long time," Zordon answered. "There are very few defenders whose identities I do not know."
What bothered me most was how he said it. Calm. Direct. Not boasting. Stating something solid and old, like a stone that had been sitting in the same place for centuries.
"And you have never acted on that knowledge," I said.
"No," he said. "If I had ever intended to interfere with you or your work, we would not be speaking now."
He was right. I would have known.
"So this is not a courtesy call," I said.
"No," Zordon replied. "I am contacting you because I am aware of what you have been doing these past several days. Not through your systems. They remain untouched. But because I understand you. Your patterns. Your nature. After meeting my Rangers, you began constructing contingencies."
I kept my expression neutral.
He continued.
"You prepare for every possibility. Every threat. Every unknown. You are correct to do so."
That was not the answer I expected. Most people with power dislike the idea of being contained. Monitored. Planned for. But this one spoke as though he had already accepted the idea years ago.
"Explain," I said.
"I chose my Rangers carefully," Zordon said. "I trust them. I trust their judgement. And I believe they would never willingly threaten this world. But willingness is not always the deciding factor. There are forces that can corrupt even the strongest mind. Events that can break even the most disciplined spirit. Enemies who would twist them or control them if the chance arose."
His words matched what I had already documented.
"In the short time I had before the Rangers were activated," he continued, "I created safeguards. Their power is routed through my Command Center. In an absolute emergency, I can deactivate their abilities. Permanently."
The computer chimed as a new folder appeared on the main screen.
"You sent something," I said.
"A complete record of my safeguards," Zordon said. "Every protocol. Every method of disabling their powers. And additional data you may use to expand your own contingency plans."
I did not open the folder yet.
"You are giving me your weaknesses," I said. "Why would you do that?"
"Because I see the flaw in my design," Zordon answered. "If the wrong Ranger ever turned, they might disable me before I could act. Any safeguard known only to its creator is vulnerable. A system must endure more than one mind. It must face someone who will try to break it."
He meant me.
"I will review your data," I said. "But do not assume that I will stop there. I will build additional measures that you do not know about."
"I expect that," Zordon replied. "In truth, your hidden measures become part of the safety net. If I do not know your plans, then neither will any enemy who tries to use the Rangers against this planet."
He paused.
"This is balance, Batman. Not trust. Balance."
The transmission began to fade.
"Good night, Mr Wayne."
The screens returned to their normal glow. The Cave settled back into silence.
Only then did I open the file.
Detailed protocols. Energy mapping. Shutdown triggers. Methods of interception. All laid out without deception. And at the end was a final attachment.
Frequencies.
Dimensional coordinates.
Observational markers.
Not enough to cut him off. Not enough to hide from him fully.
But enough to start tracing the lines of how he watches. Enough to work out how he sees without being seen.
And enough to know that he gave me this deliberately.
I closed the folder.
My patrol would begin soon. Gotham would not wait. But this could not wait either.
Some nights start when they choose. Not when you do.
Inside the Command Center, Zordon pondered the conversation he had just had. It was not that he didn't trust the Rangers, but he had to admit that trapped without a body there was little he could do if they chose to abuse their powers. The killswitch he had built was at best a temporary measure that would also prevent Alpha Five and himself from taking further action.
In such a scenario, he believed that with Billy on their team the Rangers would find it relatively easy to restore their powers - the Blue Ranger had already unlocked so many secrets of the power that Zordon had hoped to keep secret - while leaving Alpha and Zordon incapable of further action. And so he had taken a risk and reached out to somebody he felt was worthy of his trust, a hero that he knew would do everything in his power to stop the Rangers without killing them if he could avoid it. It was a security measure, a safeguard he hoped he would never need. But in the fight against darkness it never hurt to be prepared.
END