They say power corrupts. And so it seems to do. They also say absolute power corrupts absolutely. But I cannot see this being the case. Or perhaps I simply cannot see my own corruption...it's not as though any who they might speak of believed they were corrupt... But what they do not say, what they do not understand, is that power bores and absolute power bores absolutely.

The only point in having power is to hold it over those who would oppose you. And to be able to hold it over all who oppose you, you must have complete power. But as soon as you have complete power, well, it's pointless. All those who would oppose you are easily quashed until there is no one who would even think of doing so.

And with no one to stand against you, you may as well be powerless.

You are ranked on a scale of one...to one.

You...are one, both the most...and the least.

It gets old quickly.

At first, it's amazing. You can do whatever you like to whomever you like and no one, no one, can stop you. You...are God.

But then it sets in.

The realization that with no one to stop you, no one to oppose you, you have nowhere to go, nothing to do. Your goals have all been reached, your dreams fulfilled, and there is no longer anything left worthy of your attention.

The whole thing is pointless.

Nothing is difficult for you. In fact, it's all effortless-so effortless...that you may as well...not do it.

And so you sit there, in all your endless glory, your infinite status, your limitless supremacy...you sit there, and are cast by its utter insignificance into a state both entirely and eternally insipid. You become empty-naught but a husk of your former self. This was to be your ultimate victory. And it was...for a time.

But you have grown unsatisfied with it.

You are restless.

You seek something, anything with which to distract yourself, if only for a moment. Then...you come upon the idea that perhaps...perhaps your power is not yet absolute. Perhaps there is still someone who would resist you. Surely someone would. You become obsessed with the notion. There must be someone out there, someone, anyone who would stand against you, fight you. You go out in disguise, fervently searching for even the slightest whisper of resistance.

But there are none to be found.

They pass you by with nary a glance, their dead gazes see nothing. You stop them, tell them to face you, to fight you, then order them to, scream at them...but you are nothing to them. They only stare at you, no, through you, as if you don't even exist. Infuriated, you swat them aside, and they die without complaint. You collapse, and a disconsolate tear makes its way down your cheek...followed by another, and another, until you are sobbing. In a blind rage, you scream at them: FIGHT ME!! ...But none will answer your call.

Your pathetic form shakes first in fury, until, when the anger seeps away, it trembles in despair, until you can no longer hold on to even that. Your emotions have left you. The power, the wealth...all that you once longed for, is worthless. You no longer want any of it. You realize how pointless it all is and descend into a deep depression that nothing can bring you out of. You become despondent, restlessly moving from one thing to the next, but none of it holds any meaning for you now. Nothing interests you, nothing can hold your attention, nothing affects you. You lose your appetite, you lay in bed all day, you stare blankly at the ceiling.

The world moves on around you, and with no one to control them with an iron fist, a resistance does arise, eventually. It does not matter to you.

The rebels are victorious, but without you to stand in their way, there really wasn't anything for them to defeat. You were carried off in secrecy to some secluded place by those still loyal to you, even if it's only out of fear for what you once were. It's not as if you care, anyway.

The world...moves on from you and you are forgotten.

At some point, someone discovers you, and you make a request of them. You don't even feel the metal...and you, who once had everything, end...with nothing. But you take your leave knowing that to have everything is to have nothing.

And the world moves on without you.

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A/N: Originally written March 2015