the-last-jennicorn

You looked at me - needing me so

Yet from your sadness

Our happiness grew

And I found out I needed you too

I remember how we used to play

I recall those rainy days

The fire's glow

That kept us warm

And now I find - we're both alone

Goodbye may seem forever

Farewell is like the end

But in my heart's a memory

And there you'll always be

A few years have passed since being under Paradigm's wings and during that time, I've discovered a few skeletons in his closet. Not by accident but by his own proud nature. In a pathetic attempt to woo and impress me, he boasted of his involvement in creating the Street Sharks, his plans to tamper Fission City's water supply with a mutagenic formula, etc etc. Did that change my opinion of him? Not in the slightest. Sure, his practices may seem controversial. But above all else, the man was a genius and a god in my eyes. I wanted his intelligence - that truth he embraced so well. Learning his secrets is an extremely slow process, however, and demands a few sacrifices: my conscience and sometimes, my body. Again, what did I need them for when it's the really the mind that holds the key to everything? Besides, Paradigm claims that it was in the name of good science and discovery. I trust him. I have to.

Lately, however, the Dr's been acting strange. Just weeks ago, he was on top of the world after receiving a third Nobel Prize for yet another scientific breakthrough. Oddly enough, that was the same night that strange meteor appeared. Everyone called it a "sign"…idiots. But since then, Dr Paradigm's behavior had shifted from pompous pride to subtle terror. His wrinkles fail to hide that fear and during my nightly rounds of the lab, there are times when I hear a faint scream followed by the violent slam of his "office" door. Sometimes I can even catch what sounds like hissing and strange muffles behind that iron door. However, I ignore it, as I know better than to interrupt the good professor's privacy and experiments. After several years of studying as his protégé, I thought Dr. Paradigm had shared everything with me. The fact that he still keeps his doors locked from me is insulting. There's no one out there who's more worthy of learning his secrets than me! Why must he be the only one to bear this power? I've proven myself time and time again. This is all I have left; I gave everything for this and there's no going back.


I guess it's true when they say, "Be careful what you wish for". Despite years of knowledge and thirsting for more while turning a blind eye towards anything and anyone that could distract me from my goals, nothing prepared me for what happened earlier this evening. For the first time in a long time, my conscience was shaken when I was introduced to Dr. Paradigm's latest creation: #191-1981, or "Sasha". What startled me a first was that at first glance, she appeared to be just a little girl. But as I circled her filthy body like a vulture, I saw horns, a tail and piercing yellow eyes. It sounds odd, but it seemed almost reptilian and as it gazed up at me through the matted thickness of wild red hair, I could feel those eyes burning into my own…and as much as it shames me to admit it, I instantly felt sorry for it. When I tried to confront Paradigm about what "Sasha" was, he only gaped at the abomination with a mixture of awe and fear on his face. He then assigned me the task of monitoring its behavior, health and vitals. Success. I'm sure in due time, I'll learn more about this creature and through studying it, I know I'll achieve the same mental greatness behind its creation.

Dr. Paradigm, that strange meteor and now "Sasha"...these are all keys to something big. I can feel it...

**This is something that my good friend started, in which she writes a journal entry through the mind of a Street Shark or one of her own characters. That inspired me to write one for D, my own character from Street Sharks Not much is known about D's life before being transformed into a mutagenic "freak" (as she would say). I plan to explore it more via either fanfic or comic form. But for now, hopefully this will do I plan on writing 3 journals describing different stages of her life leading up to her transformation. Here's Part 1!**

~~


Friends. Family. Love. Pleasure. The common idiot would believe that these are the things
one needs to get through life. Wrong. Water, sustenance and oxygen are all that's necessary.

'What about happiness?" you ask stupidly.

Happiness, like the cosmos, is an intangible phenomenon that has no limits. When someone
says he/she is happy, that person is lying. Ever since we crawled out of that primordial slime, we humans (the most dominant species on Earth) have proven time and time again that we can never be satisfied. Once we think life can't get any better, we still thirst, hunt and kill for more. As such, we become more like the caged animals I pass by each day at the lab. Happiness is nothing more than a weakness and the sooner you accept that, the stronger and better off you will be. Yes, like you, I too came from a family. I had a home, a mother, a few friends. You can say that my early years were…acceptable. But as I got older, so did the concept of contentment. Friends who swore they'd never leave my side moved away, a supposed "faithful" lover turned out not to be the opposite and my father left my mother and I with $5 and a half-eaten sandwich. So after my own failed attempts at being "happy" I took a step back, gazed at the world and realized just how weak I really was. Hopes and dreams? I had those, too. But it wasn't until I stopped conjuring these false imitations that the pain of life's disappointments ceased as well.

I severed ties with nearly everyone I thought I knew; for I knew that they'd eventually leave and abandon me anyway. Instead of hanging onto false hopes, I wanted to pursue what was true and real: science, mathematics, biology and engineering. I sacrificed limited pleasures for perpetual knowledge. In my mind, I felt godly for shedding my mortal coils and how fortunate was I that Dr. Paradigm would take me under his wing and share his secrets with me? As top of my class for several spotless consecutive years, there was no question as to who would be Dr. Paradigm's new protégé. I was set to replace that moron and pathetic excuse of a scientist Lena. Ha! Turns out she was involved with those…abominations, coined by the locals as "Street Sharks". Many blamed Paradigm for his supposed role in the Sharks' creation, but I supported him 100%. Even if he did have something to do with it, did I really care? I wanted his knowledge, his intelligence, that essence of immortality he had already tapped into. Later, Fission City's mayor would be labeled as the guilty party and after she was run out of town like a scalded dog, Dr. Paradigm took over Fission City and molded it into the most bustling hub of genetics and bio-engineering worldwide. By his side, his apprentice and the "heir" of his intelligence, me.