One

"It's been a while since I told anyone what I really thought.

But that's going to change. Now, the world will cry my tears. My sorrows will be theirs, multiplied a thousand times… for I will rule their minds.

You think that's just an empty threat? Ah, but you are one of them - the uninformed, unenlightened masses who crawl upon the face of this planet, tainting everything they touch! But not for long, my love - for you will be the first to witness my triumph."

The man shackled to the chair was beautiful - a god among men… That was why she had chosen him. He would be the one man left free, and with him by her side, she would enslave the world.

"You say that you'll despise me until the day you die, but you will understand soon and learn to love me as I love you. Very soon I will release you, for you will not want to leave me anymore. You will have nowhere to go, because the world will be mine and you will share my throne with me."

Centuries had passed since the petty quarrels of Earth's nations were resolved. There was no more famine, no more disease and yet corruption was all mankind could produce.

Within the most peaceful of communities, people still told in hushed voices tales of torture so horrific that it turned children into creatures beyond recognition.

No one had ever seen these monster beings and many thought they were just tales told by mischievous older siblings to give the young ones nightmares.

But then, the stories said that having served their purpose, they were annihilated. It was said that only their controllers could withstand the power of these terrible creations - stretched in their childhood past the limits of human endurance, they developed gifts no ordinary human could ever hope to have; powers of mind control and extraordinary strength - the stuff of legends.

It was no wonder no one believed they existed and it didn't matter because they were ‘retired’ before they could harm anyone other than the targets. But a mistake was made that noone was ever told about...

One escaped.