Thrawn raised his arms slowly and started to clap sarcastically. Glaring at him only made me more annoyed.

"A conqueror to bring about a unified world? It sounds like quite the undertaking." Thrawn stopped clapping. "Many have tried to do the same before you, and failed due to unforeseen circumstances. Alexander the Great died while still in his prime. Caesar was assassinated soon after becoming dictator, and Napoleon had his Waterloo." Thrawn's eyes never softened. "And you have the Battle of Lothal." Thrawn and the Battle of Bilbringi went unsaid obviously. I still felt a pang of pain in my chest whenever I remembered that occasion. The meaning behind his statement was clear. There was no guarantee that I would be successful, or if I would even survive to see my work completed. Many 'geniuses' were cut down in their prime, and were now a single page in history.

"Well someone has to do it." I responded with my own eyes hardening. A better world at the cost of my own life? A better world for the other Taylor's that were out there who were just barely scraping by just like me? W-Would I be willing to do such a sacrifice? I didn't want to die, but this was the only path that I had. This needed to be done.

Thrawn nodded slowly in response. "You are aware that the path you are taking is the one filled with blood correct?"

How many people are going to die? How many children will lose their father or their mother? How many people will lose their friends and family? There was no going back once I took the first step. This needed to be done. The world didn't need anymore Kaiser's or Lung's to cause death and destruction just because they felt like it. Licking my dry lips, I met Thrawn's gaze with my own.

"Yes."

CR CR CR CR

Dad arrived home soon after. Dinner was a simple affair, he decided that he wanted to cook today since I forgot to do it thanks to my conversation with the Thrawn in my head. Dad seemed a bit happier than usual, but I shook it off. He probably managed to get a few more jobs for the DWA. After setting up the table, I turned on the TV to see if there was anything interesting while he cooked.

Eventually, I landed on a nature documentary about the ocean. Aww, that's a cute fish. I formed a small smile on my face. He looked like he came out of an Earth Aleph movie. Suddenly, a disgusting creature with tentacles started creeping into view. I didn't notice that I had started breathing heavily. Biting my bottom lip so I wouldn't scream, I quickly changed the channel. I hated octopi and squids. There was nothing that you could do that could change my mind.

"Dinners ready!" Dad shouted from the kitchen. I hope it wasn't lasagna. I ate frozen lasagna that we got on sale for a week when the DWA was finally able to get a contract. Sitting down at the table, Dad placed a plate full of some weird looking chicken in front of me. "I used Grandpa's old recipe."

Grandpa must've been in the army judging by how disgusting it looked. Oh well, food was food I guess. Hopefully I won't get salmonella or something. There was a reason why Mom never let Dad in the kitchen after all.

"Thank you." I grabbed my fork and impaled a piece of chicken. We start eating with a familiar silence in between us. I was used to it by now. The chicken was alright, but it was a bit dry.

"So how was school?" Dad asked right on schedule. He always asked the same questions, so I always gave him the same answer.

"It was alright." I took another bite of chicken as I gave him a glance. Dad seems a bit happier than usual. It has been a long time since I have seen him this way. Did he meet someone new? Did he have a possible crush? I needed more information. "How was work?"

Dad paused in the middle of chewing. He wasn't expecting me to ask a question in response due to my previous behavior in the past. His cheeks started to redden a bit. He's blushing, has been talking to someone. Swallowing the food in his mouth, Dad lightly coughed into his fist. "Work was good today. I managed to get another job for the DWA. The PRT needed some extra muscle to repair some damages caused by their last fight with Lung. Apparently their previous contract was starting to charge them more." Dad has his shirt ironed. When was the last time he did that? Not since Mom died. He dressed to impress.

"Cool." I said absentmindedly. Did Dad dress up for his meeting with the PRT representative? That could be one of the outcomes.

Dad nodded along slowly and silence fell over us again. Dad opens his mouth to speak, but closes it seconds later. Doesn't know what to say.

"I heard that there was a fight at school today." Dad said casually. The school most likely called his office since that's the number he has listed in their paperwork. Doesn't know that I'm the one that instigated the fight which means that Winslow just chalked it up to the Merchants being Merchants and skinheads being skinheads. Well that was good.

"That's everyday Dad."

"Oh ok." Dad isn't paying attention to the conversation anymore. He's thinking about someone. Yeah, great talk Dad.

Man this chicken was dry.

CR CR CR CR

I went to my room once we were done with dinner. Dad said he wanted to do the dishes today. This was really weird and not like him at all. Was he under the control of a Master? Squealer mind control truck was still a possibility. Maybe Armsmaster created a halberd that could master people. Tinkers are bullshit.

Staring at my notebook that was sitting on my desk, I opened it slowly. If my campaign was going to succeed, I needed to start planning. I'm a Thinker not a fighter. I didn't have the strength to fight off the entire Protectorate by myself just like Lung. I didn't have a private army of mercenaries armed with tinkertech like Coil. All I had was my mind.

I needed ways to dispose of enemy capes as well as their normal grunts. Nobody was invincible, it was just a matter of finding out their weaknesses and exploiting them. Pulling out my pen, I started to write in Cheunh, the official language of the Chiss Ascendancy. I didn't want anyone finding out my future notes.

'How to take over the world 101'

A/N

I said this a few times in an edit since I keep forgetting, but while the amount of readers of this rewrite on SB/SV are about what I expected, support for Chimaera on FF has been insane! Within One day it passed up Lore Khepri in terms of favorites and follows despite having less than a tenth of the views!

I wasn't expecting this much support at all so thank you for reading!

Likes,comments, follows, and favorites help inspire me to continue to write.

The next story I'll work on will be Smoker the White Hunter and then I'll come back to this one.

Comments help me write faster. I like seeing the discussion.