MMPR: The Flame of Useless Sacrifice

Leadership faces its greatest test as sacrifice becomes inevitable. A final act of defiance by Jason the Red Ranger brings no victory, only devastating consequences. The team’s unity is shattered, and hope becomes a flickering memory. 

The flame consumes, leaving only echoes.

Special thanks to my loyal and royal patron friends:

Nicholas Athallah

Jakob Feurhuber

泽凯 张

vladimirpootis

Tribe

A

Bethany

kasa41

Violet Fentenstine

Tuck Lee

Matthew Thom

fumitsu

kasa41

俊介 星野

にとり 河城

Russell shuey

Bayu Pramana

clanna

park jong

Dominic Kohtz

George Hellerman

Flutterheart10480

brkfstinamerica

darkrai1986

시우 성

Nathaniel Grayson

's 쭌

John Barten

Eddie Hauck

Ken K

Ty smith

Robert Terwillger

snb

Daniel K

Mike020578

 Four candles down!

Their muffled, horrific screams peaked into one final, piercing crescendo.

“HELP US! DON’T LET US GO! JASON! TRINI! KIMBERLY! DON’T FORGET US—DON’T LET US BE FORGOTTEN! PLEASE, PLEASE, NO, NO, NO, NO—”

The dark energy surged. The three wax-bound Rangers vanished in a flash of Zedd’s teleportation magic. Silence.

Their melting, shifting bodies, trapped in an endless cycle of suffering, disappeared from the battlefield, their muffled screams cut off in an instant. Only the distant flicker of their black flames remained in the minds of the Rangers, an echo of the horror that would haunt them forever.

Jason stared at the empty space where they had stood, his breath hitching, his fists trembling. He still saw Zack’s contorted expression, the way his waxen body collapsed over and over, only to harden again, forced into its prison of suffering.

Zedd laughed coldly, his words smooth with twisted amusement. “And so, my collection grows. Three trophies… but my display isn’t complete. No, not yet.” He stretched out his arms mockingly, his red visor glowing in delight. “Come, Rangers! If you wish to save your friends—if you wish to spare them their eternity of agony— then face me on my moon palace. Try to rescue them, or better yet…” He tilted his head, words dripping cruel glee. “Join them. Become my eternal chandelier candles, forever burning in my throne room!”

Jason gritted his teeth so hard it hurt. His hands clenched around his Power Sword, his entire body shaking—not with fear, but with rage. He knew Zedd was taunting them, leading them into a trap, but it didn’t matter. They had already lost three of their own. That wasn’t going to happen again. Not while he was still breathing.

Kimberly stepped forward, fists balled, her breath shuddering as she took aim. “You sick—*twisted—*MONSTER! We’re going to stop you! We’re going to get them back!”

Zedd simply chuckled, unconcerned. “Oh, but before that… I have one final challenge for you.” He gestured grandly. “You’ll have to survive first.”

RoboGoat roared, his glowing eyes locking onto the exhausted trio.

The monster lunged with terrifying speed, hammer raised high, bringing it down with devastating force toward Kimberly. She barely rolled to the side in time, the impact sending a shockwave through the ground, knocking her off balance. She gasped, trying to pull back her bow, but a sharp pain exploded through her arm. She screamed, her fingers going numb as her weapon clattered uselessly to the dirt.

“AHHHH! MY ARM! I—I CAN’T—!”

Her bow fell from her grasp. RoboGoat loomed over her, his massive clawed hand rising above her head.

“Kimberly!” Trini threw herself forward, catching her by the waist and dragging her back just in time. RoboGoat’s fist slammed into the ground, the force splitting the earth where Kimberly had been lying.

Kimberly gasped for breath, clutching her broken arm, pain flashing across her visor. “I—I can’t fight like this!”

Trini grimaced, trying to pull them both up, but pain shot through her leg. She gasped, her ankle twisting beneath her, sending them tumbling to the ground.

“Damn it—my ankle—I can’t move!” she hissed through gritted teeth. She tried to push herself up, but the pain was unbearable.

Jason saw everything. He saw RoboGoat closing in, saw Kimberly and Trini struggling on the ground, completely defenseless.

A wave of rage unlike anything he had ever felt surged through him.

With a primal roar, Jason charged. His Power Sword flashed as he brought it down, slashing into RoboGoat’s armored side. Sparks exploded, the beast stumbling back. But Jason didn’t stop.

He swung again, and again, hacking away with everything he had. He wasn’t fighting for strategy anymore. He was fighting like a cornered animal.

“YOU WON’T—TAKE—ANYONE ELSE!” Jason roared, his sword crashing into RoboGoat’s hammer, sending another wave of sparks into the air. “I’LL CUT YOU DOWN RIGHT HERE!”

RoboGoat grunted, momentarily forced back by Jason’s raw ferocity. But then, the monster’s glowing eyes narrowed, and it stopped retreating.

Jason didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late.

RoboGoat suddenly dropped his stance, bracing himself—and then, with a flash of movement, his fist slammed directly into Jason’s stomach.

Jason’s breath vanished in an instant. The force caved into his armor, sending a brutal shockwave through his entire body. His ribs felt like they had shattered, his stomach twisting violently, his knees buckling.

Then—he vomited.

The bile splattered against the inside of his helmet, burning his throat, clogging his vision. He coughed, choking, his body convulsing as he tried to regain his bearings, but the pain was unbearable.

Kimberly screamed, struggling to get up. “JASON—NO!”

Trini dragged herself forward, ignoring her injury. “GET UP! GET UP, JASON!”

But RoboGoat wasn’t done. The beast brought his hammer up, then slammed it down. Jason barely lifted his Power Sword in time to block, but the sheer force of the strike was too much.

The sword shattered.

The blade split apart, pieces flying in different directions, the broken hilt shaking in Jason’s numb hands.

Jason stared at the remains of his weapon. He was unarmed.

Kimberly’s eyes widened in horror. “JASON—MOVE!”

Trini sobbed, trying to crawl toward him. “HE’S COMING, JASON!”

Jason tried to lift his fists, but his limbs felt like lead. His entire body screamed for him to move, but he had nothing left. He had watched Zack, Billy, and Tommy get taken. He had heard their screams. He had seen their faces melt.

He couldn’t let it happen again.

But his body betrayed him.

RoboGoat snarled and charged again, hammer raised. Jason could only watch as it came down.

He had no weapon. No defense. Nowhere left to run.

Jason knew there was only one way out of this. His mind was screaming, his instincts roaring at him to fight, but the logical part of him—the one that had seen Zack, Billy, and Tommy turn into waxed figures of eternal suffering—knew this was the end.

His sword was broken. His body was spent. His team was barely holding on.

So he did the only thing he could. He ordered them to run.

“Trini, Kimberly—TELEPORT OUT! NOW!” Jason’s voice was raw, desperate, unyielding.

Kimberly whipped around, her body tense, her eyes wide with horror. “What?! No! Jason, you can’t—”

“DO IT! GET OUT OF HERE!” Jason’s lungs burned as he roared the words, his body already in motion. He threw himself at RoboGoat, ramming his full weight into the beast with everything he had left.

The impact barely moved the monster.

But Jason didn’t care. He dug his heels in, gripping onto RoboGoat’s arms, grappling him, twisting, throwing his entire body into keeping the beast occupied. If they were going to get away, he had to give them time.

“JASON, STOP! WE CAN FIGHT TOGETHER!” Trini was already pushing herself forward, her injured ankle forgotten in her desperation.

Jason gritted his teeth, locking RoboGoat in place with sheer force. “NO! YOU HAVE TO LIVE TO FIGHT! TELEPORT! THAT’S AN ORDER!”

Kimberly shook her head violently, tears stinging her eyes. “NO! WE’RE NOT LEAVING YOU! JASON, PLEASE!”

“GO!” Jason’s voice broke, but his grip on the monster didn’t loosen.

Trini grabbed Kimberly’s arm. “We have to listen to him! We have to go!”

Kimberly clawed at Trini’s grip, her chest heaving. “NO! NO, I WON’T—”

And then, RoboGoat moved.

Jason felt it before he saw it. The monster’s arms flexed, his muscles rippling, his sheer strength overwhelming Jason in an instant.

Jason was yanked back like a ragdoll.

He stumbled, trying to regain his footing, but RoboGoat stepped away from him as though Jason had been mere an insect in his path.

Then, the monster clasped his massive hands together.

Jason saw it coming.

His eyes widened. His breath hitched.

There was no time to move.

The double-fisted hammer strike came down, a brutal, earth-shattering blow that crashed onto the top of Jason’s helmet.

CRACK.

Jason’s world shattered.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The scream that tore from Jason’s throat wasn't human. It was raw, primal, the sound of something breaking beyond repair.

His knees buckled instantly, his head snapping forward violently as pain ripped through his skull like lightning. His helmet fractured, the red plating shattering into jagged pieces, the impact sending shockwaves through his entire body.

His vision turned white, then black, then white again. His body lurched back, his arms twitching uncontrollably, his entire system misfiring in agony.

Kimberly let out an ear-piercing shriek. “JASON—NO!”

Jason staggered, his breath choking, gasping, strangled. His legs wobbled, his fingers twitching erratically, his entire body convulsing with short-circuiting nerve signals.

His eyes rolled back, bloodshot, unfocused, shaking.

Trini was screaming at him. “JASON! LOOK AT ME! STAY WITH US! SAY SOMETHING!”

Jason’s mouth opened, but the only thing that came out was a guttural, garbled moan. His head twitched to the side, his body stumbling forward, jerking unnaturally.

Kimberly sobbed, struggling against Trini’s grip. “NO, NO, NO, HE CAN STILL FIGHT! JASON, PLEASE, FOCUS! STAY WITH US!”

Jason staggered left. Then right. Then forward again. His body spasmed, his hands flexing as though trying to grab something that wasn’t there.

Then, his legs buckled completely.

His body crashed to the ground, his broken helmet hitting the dirt first, shards of red scattering around him. His arms twitched, fingers spasming—then nothing.

Kimberly’s wail shattered through the air.

Trini grabbed her, forcing the teleportation sequence on both of them. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry—I CAN’T LET YOU DIE TOO!”

Kimberly fought, reaching out, screaming. “JASON! JASON, GET UP! PLEASE! PLEASE!”

As RoboGoat stood over Jason’s fallen, twitching body, Kimberly and Trini’s figures vanished in a blur of teleportation light.

Jason was alone.

The battlefield grew eerily silent, save for the low, slow rumbling of RoboGoat’s breath.

The monster tilted his head, his glowing eyes peering down at the Red Ranger’s collapsed form.

Jason’s fingers twitched once. Twice. His broken, fractured visor barely reflected the light of the battlefield. His chest shuddered, rising and falling in erratic, uneven gasps.

He was still alive.

But his mind was gone.

RoboGoat chuckled darkly, stepping forward, his massive foot coming down next to Jason’s still body.

Jason didn’t move.

Because he couldn’t.

***

The Command Chamber erupted in a white-hot flash as two battered figures tumbled out of teleportation. Trini hit the floor hard, her twisted ankle giving out beneath her, sending her sprawling, her breath hitching in pain. Kimberly landed beside her, her body convulsing as she gasped for breath, her broken arms too weak to catch her fall. The impact sent another jolt of agony through both of them, but none of it compared to the horror they had left behind.

For a brief moment, they were safe. But the word felt meaningless now.

Trini exhaled sharply, her chest rising and falling in ragged, uneven bursts. She was exhausted, wounded, barely able to keep herself upright. Her entire body screamed at her to stop, to rest, to breathe, but there was no rest for the broken. Not when the nightmare they had escaped was still clawing at the edges of their minds, waiting to drag them back into the abyss. She wanted relief that they had made it out and were still standing, but she couldn’t. Not when she turned her head and saw Kimberly trembling violently beside her, curled into herself, shaking so hard it seemed as if her entire body was going to break apart.

Then she heard Kimberly sob. The raw, ragged sound sent a bolt of ice through Trini’s chest.

"Jason... Jason’s dead."

The words struck like a dagger to her gut, twisting and burrowing deeper with every syllable. Trini’s stomach clenched, a sickening feeling creeping through her limbs as she turned toward Kimberly—her teammate, her best friend—who now lay on the cold, sterile floor of the Command Chamber, her entire body wracked with uncontrollable grief. Kimberly’s breath hitched, her chest heaving as sobs tore through her, unrelenting, merciless in their agony.

"He’s dead, Trini! I saw it!" Kimberly’s words deteriorated, breaking into uneven, choked gasps. "He—he—his helmet cracked! His—his brain—"

Her words strangled into a wail, her words cutting off as she crumpled in on herself. "He needed me! He needed me and I—" She gasped, her breaths uneven, erratic, as if she was being suffocated by the weight of her own guilt. Her hands, trembling and weak, clawed at her broken arms, her fingers digging into the damaged fabric of her suit.

"I COULDN’T EVEN LIFT MY BOW! I COULDN’T—MY STUPID, BROKEN ARMS—!" Her voice rose into a hysterical shriek, filled with pure, undiluted agony. She tried to curl inward, as if making herself smaller would make the pain disappear, but it wouldn’t. Nothing would.

Trini couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed Kimberly by the shoulders, her grip firm, shaking her with enough force to snap her out of her spiraling hysteria. "STOP IT!" she snapped. "You didn’t fail him, Kimberly! We didn’t fail him! If we stayed, we’d be dead too! We had no choice!"

Kimberly sucked in a ragged breath, but her visor trembled as more sobs spilled from her. The grief wouldn’t stop. It had its claws in her now, and no words were strong enough to pull her out of it.

Trini held onto her tighter, trying to anchor them both to something—anything. "Jason gave us that choice! He—he did it to save us! If we stayed, we’d be part of Zedd’s sick, twisted trophy room right now! You think Jason would want that?!" Her words wavered, the pain evident even in her anger. She was trying to make sense of it, but how could she? How could anyone?

Kimberly’s fingers twitched, her breath shuddering in uneven gasps. "I—Trini, I—I just… I don’t know what to do… I don’t—" Her words fell apart into another trembling sob, her body quivering from exhaustion and sorrow. The weight of their loss pressed down on them, suffocating, unrelenting.

A heavy silence stretched between them, thick and unbearable. The air in the Command Chamber felt too still, too hollow, as if the room itself had died along with their fallen teammates. It was the kind of silence that seeped into the bones, that made every breath feel like a mistake.

Kimberly exhaled out, her words barely more than a whisper. "If Tommy was still here… he’d know what to do."

Trini’s stomach twisted painfully. "Yeah, he would."

Tommy. The first one they lost. The first to fall.

Kimberly let out another broken sob. "He never hesitated. Never backed down. If he still had his Dragon Dagger, if he still had his shield—"

"We wouldn’t be having this conversation," Trini finished, her voice hollow. Because they both knew it was true.

If Tommy had been there, truly there, with his full power—Zedd wouldn’t have had time to gloat. Tommy would have torn through RoboGoat, shield flashing, blade cutting through its defenses like butter. He would have rallied them all, leading them straight to Zedd’s throne room, dragging that bastard off his throne. They would have ended this. Right then and there.

Instead… Instead, Tommy had been the first to be taken. The first to be reduced to nothing more than a burning, mindless, screaming candle in some hellish abyss they couldn’t reach.

Kimberly’s voice was full of sorrow. "I keep seeing it, Trini. I keep seeing his face, his arms frozen in wax, his mouth open, but—" She choked on the words, her body shaking violently. The image was burned into her memory, an inescapable nightmare that would haunt her forever.

Trini gritted her teeth, clenching her fists so hard her knuckles ached. She wanted to say something, anything, but what was left to say? Nothing. Because Billy had been next.

Trini sucked in a breath. "If Billy had time—if he could have solved that candle spell—"

Kimberly lifted her head slightly, her words barely above a whisper. "He would have figured it out."

They both knew it. If Billy had been given a minute—just one minute—he would have unraveled the spell, burned the candles himself, reversed the corruption. But he never got that chance. Because Zedd knew. Zedd knew Billy was the key, the only one smart enough to break the ritual. So he silenced him first.

They could still hear his voice, his screams, his equations shattering as his mind melted into incoherent, agonized babbling. Trini let out a slow, shaky breath. "We never had a chance. Not really."

Kimberly nodded weakly. Because then came Zack. Zack had been their spirit, their energy, the one who could always find a way to fight back. He would have fought harder, longer if he had been at full strength, without the candle’s magic corrupting his mind. If he had just held on… If he had just stayed with them… Maybe… maybe they would have made it.

But they had all fallen. One by one. Until it was just them.

Kimberly let out a broken breath. "We keep saying ‘if.’"

Trini closed her eyes. Because it didn’t matter anymore. All their hypotheticals, all their strategies—none of it mattered. Because Tommy wasn’t here. Because Billy’s mind was broken. Because Zack had fled, and Jason had given everything to protect them. Because they weren’t warriors anymore. They were two shattered girls sitting in a dying sanctuary, mourning teammates who were already lost to hell.

"We lost."

Kimberly’s delivery was small. Hollow.

Trini let out a slow, shaking breath. She wanted to fight. She wanted to scream, to say it wasn’t over. But even she didn’t believe that anymore.

"Yeah."

A heavy silence settled between them. They sat together, bruised, broken, alone.

And then—Trini noticed something.

The air was wrong. And she realized, with dawning horror, that they weren’t safe after all.

Trini’s breath hitched, her pulse pounding in her ears as the air around them turned thick, suffocating. Something was wrong. Deeply, terribly wrong. A cold sweat formed beneath her helmet, despite the suffocating heat now crawling over her skin. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to run, to move, to do anything but stand here and acknowledge the creeping horror unfolding before her.

Her gaze flicked to the half-circle console that had once been the heart of their sanctuary, where glowing monitors had pulsed with data, tracking energy fluctuations, scanning for threats, and linking them to the Morphing Grid. Now, they were unrecognizable. The monitors were coated in something slick, something thick and pale, dripping in slow, viscous rivulets. The once-vibrant buttons, screens, and panels were disappearing beneath layers of what looked like melting candle wax, but it was moving—growing—like something alive.

Trini’s stomach churned. This wasn’t just destruction. This was infection.

Her hands trembled as she reached out instinctively, her gloved fingertips brushing over the glossy surface of the nearest console. Her fingers came away coated in a translucent film, sticky and cloying. The scent hit her nostrils, thick and pungent, and she gagged.

It was familiar.

The battlefield. The candles. The wax figures that had once been their friends.

Zack. Billy. Tommy. Jason.

Her moans broke as she took a staggering step back. "No… No, no, no—"

A flicker of movement above made her head snap up, and her blood ran cold.

Zordon’s tube was glitching.

“ZORDON!” Trini shrieked, her panic breaking through the growing haze of horror. She grabbed Kimberly’s arm, wrenching her toward the flickering energy column. "Something’s happening to him!"

Zordon’s form wavered, distorted beyond recognition, his usually steady presence now reduced to jittering static. His delivery was fractured, struggling, breaking apart.

"Rangers… danger… Morphing Grid… corrupted…" His deep, guiding tone was warped beyond recognition, splintered into overlapping echoes. "Contamination… spreading…!"

Trini felt like she couldn’t breathe. "Zordon, what’s happening?! What do we do?!"

Kimberly barely whispered, her breath rattling, "Please… tell us how to fix this."

The screens around them flickered violently, pulses of corrupted energy crackling through the failing systems. The wax was creeping upward now, spreading toward Zordon’s energy column, slithering up the base of his containment tube.

"Rangers… cannot… hold… back… the infection—" The distortion deepened, his features flickering between clarity and incomprehensible noise. "You… must… break the connection! THE GRID—" His words faltered, caught in a burst of static. "The sanctuary… compromised…no escape… must—" His words warped, crackled, then cut out for a long, chilling moment before he rasped, "Rangers… I…am fading…"

Trini’s eyes widened in horror. She refused to let this happen.

Her hands fumbled to summon her Power Daggers, gripping them tightly before she lunged toward Zordon’s tube. With every ounce of strength left in her battered body, she slashed at the growing wax, her blades flashing in desperate, frenzied arcs.

"NO! WE CAN’T LOSE YOU!" she screamed, her delivery raw with fear. "WE’RE NOT LOSING YOU TOO!"

She struck again and again, her daggers cutting into the corrupted mass creeping up the tube’s structure. But the moment her blades met the wax, it absorbed the strikes—like a sponge drinking in water. The substance rippled, dulled the edges of her daggers, and continued to spread, unhindered.

"IT’S NOT WORKING!" Kimberly shouted, stepping forward, desperation taking over. "TRY MY BOW! USE AN ENERGY STRIKE!"

Trini didn’t hesitate. She snatched Kimberly’s bow, summoning a crackling energy arrow, pulling back the string with all the force she could muster. She fired directly at the encroaching wax, watching as the glowing arrow sliced through the air and struck the surface with a bright, crackling explosion.

For a split second, the chamber lit up with the brilliance of the energy strike—

Then it died.

The wax absorbed the energy. The explosion dissolved into nothing. The attack did nothing.

Trini and Kimberly stared in horror as the corruption continued creeping forward, completely unaffected.

"No—NO! That should’ve worked! That ALWAYS works!" Kimberly cried, her breaths turning rapid and uneven.

Trini gritted her teeth, her entire body trembling as she stepped back, fists clenched so tightly her nails dug into her palms through the gloves. "Then what do we do?! We—we don’t have anything left!"

Kimberly swallowed hard, her lips trembling. "Then… we’re out of options."

Trini felt the weight of those words crash down on her chest. They had thrown everything they had at it. They had used their weapons, their energy, their strength—and it had done nothing.

Then, Zordon spoke again.

His tone was barely there, weaker than before, distant—like a fading echo.

"Rangers… I…cannot stop it…The Command Chamber… no longer yours… The corruption… has won…""

The words hit them hard.

Trini shook her head violently. "No. No, Zordon! We can fix this! We just need—"

"You… cannot stop it… It is inside you now." His voice distorted further, turning fragmented, stretched. "I… am sorry… Trini… Kimberly… I…failed you…""

And then—with a final, sickening crackle, Zordon’s tube went completely dark.

The last tether to their leader, to their power, was gone.

Trini’s breath came in short, choppy gasps. "No. No. NO! ZORDON! ANSWER US! ZORDON, PLEASE!" She pounded her fists against the glass, but it was lifeless. Cold. Empty.

Kimberly stood frozen in place, barely breathing. When she finally spoke, her tone was small, distant. "Trini… what’s happening?"

Trini’s heart hammered against her ribs. She turned slowly, her eyes scanning the room, her breath catching as she saw what Kimberly had just noticed.

The wax. It was everywhere.

The walls, the floors, the consoles—it was spreading faster now, pulsing like a living entity, swallowing their sanctuary inch by inch. The Command Chamber, the last bastion of their team, was dissolving into an unrecognizable hellish mess.