A story about Corrine's life with his team and family. Right?



Corrine looked blankly across the dorm’s living room table; looking as unenthusiastic as ever. Not that that was anything new. Karah had once again nagged him into one of her tabletop warfare games, which Corrine was no fan of. He’d much rather be…
To be honest, he didn’t really have anything else to do. Without Karah around most of his days would probably have been spent working and researching at home. Not that he’d dislike doing more study; but this was certainly a breath of fresh air.
‘Alright; you ready for the first round?’ asked Karah, sitting opposite her. In all honesty Corrine had no clue what the game was supposed to be about, and had just flicked through the rulebook. Apparently he led an army of all-consuming insectoid aliens, while Karah led some sort of team of blocky robot-suits and miscellaneous aliens against him. He honestly didn’t care for the lore and all. Karah was a bit of a nerd about all that; though.
‘I’m fine.’ Replied Corrine. He’d already set up his army; and was simply waiting for Karah. She tended to take quite some time making all her strategies; which gave her a thin façade of intelligence. He could tell already that she was aiming for his… brain worm things. And that was even without using telepathy. That would simply make the game even more boring. Though he had to give Karah some credit; she had beaten him a couple of times.
‘Would you mind hurrying up?’ asked Corrine, resting his head on one arm. It had already been ten minutes since she’d started setting up; and he wasn’t one to waste time.
‘Just give me a sec; alright?’ asked Karah, annoyed. She was still trying to sort out her… things. He had never bothered to remember the names of the troopers, nor even the teams’ name; despite how many times she’d told him. He didn’t have time for such details.
‘I suppose.’ Said Corrine, resting his head on one arm. At least there was no one to distract him in their dorms; at least on the weekend. A door slamming sent this thought down the drain.
‘Alright people, let’s get that table cleared! Janice is coming over, and don’t want her to think we’re all nerds or something.’ Shouted out Isabella, striding into the living room. Karah rolled her eyes; while Corrine just shuddered. While he could tolerate Isabella’s bossiness and her love of fashion; he couldn’t stand her best friend; Janice. She was a student from KU who was best friends with Isabella, and shared her love of fashion as she was working as a model. While she was generally nice enough she constantly flirted with Corrine which simply drove him up the wall; as he could never get anything done with her toying with him. While she wasn’t annoying enough for him to simply hypnotise her or outright attack her she often pushed his limits. Still; on the other hand; he didn’t mind being pampered and getting such attention…

Karah and Corrine were quick to clean the table; despite Karah’s reluctance. She wasn’t interested in getting on the bad side of Janice since she’d seen how strong her poison could be during a fight. The trio managed to clean up the rest of the room (though admittedly it was pretty clean to begin with) very quickly, leaving plenty of time for Janice to turn up; much to Karah’s frustration.
‘And now we’re just wasting time. We could’ve at least gotten a turn done had you not been so whiney, Isabella.’ Growled Karah, glaring at Isabella from across the room. Isabella gave a quick sigh, dismissing the large Lugia with a wave of her hand.
‘I’d rather die than watch you two take another try at that painstakingly slow ‘game’. The sort of thing is only for math nerds and people who live in their parents basements, though admittedly both of you fit at least one of those categories.’
‘I’m not a maths nerd!’ complained Karah, completely missing the point. Corrine rolled his eyes, irritated by Karah’s stupidity. He wasn’t in the mood for this.
‘I suppose I may as well leave.’ He said, beginning to walk out of the dorm. Isabella growled at him, dragging him back by the collar. While Corrine would usually crush someone’s mind for that even he knew not to mess with Isabella’s temper. He let the girl drag him back to the table, his natural scowl becoming somewhat more profound.
‘There is NO way you’re getting out of this.’ Said Isabella sternly, much to Corrine’s irritation. He hated being treated like a kid. ‘I’ve got a bunch of clothes that I need to try out, and they’re your size. I gotta show Janice my new Gothic stuff. Anyway, you’d probably like them. You seem to be the sort who’d be a Goth, with all your quiet anger and junk.’
‘I’m not a Goth.’ Said Corrine, very annoyed by the comment. How dare she call him a Goth! He couldn’t stand those people. ‘If I were to get into such stupid theme I’d prefer an Arabian Nights-ish look.’
Karah gave Corrine an odd look. ‘Why in world would you be interested in that sort of thing? I mean, the puffy pants and such look terrible. Plus, that’s not even a fashion style’ She said, much to Corrine’s irritation. He sighed heavily, uninterested in continuing the discussion. This was why he rarely spoke any of his interests. That and stuff like that would make him seem weak, which was the last thing he wanted. His mother would chew him through for anything like that. The door beside him being swung open snapped him from his thoughts, though. Now the pain would really begin…

‘Hope I didn’t keep you waiting, my little pup!’ said Janice happily, walking through the doorway. Her comment was directed to Corrine, who had darted to the room’s sole armchair; a rather cushiony one. If he was going to go through all this again he wanted to at least do so in comfort. Corrine winced visibly upon being called ‘pup’ by Janice. This couldn’t be good.
Karah too, was none too impressed by Janice’s appearance. While she was thankful that the girl didn’t hit on her, she still felt pretty awkward being around someone with a figure like that. In truth it made her damn jealous, although she’d never admit it. At least Isabella was happy. That girl’d do anything for her beloved fashion model.
‘Alright, Janice, like you asked I got some more punk stuff for you. I don’t really get what you see in it personally, but I guess it kinda suits you. I’m not too good at designing in that style either, but just have a look at these and see what you think.’ Said Isabella, searching through a bag she’d brought in with her when she first got to the dorm. ‘Personally, I reckon you’d be better with a glam style.’
‘Personally, I reckon our pink kitty would look better than glam than I would.’ Said Janice, patting Corrine on the head, before sitting down beside him. Seeing him get so irritated was always worth it. Plus, it wasn’t like he could really do anything. Being a Dark-type, his psychic abilities didn’t effect her. She edged up beside the tiny boy, squeezing him lightly against the arm of the chair with her hip, noticing his scowl become slightly more profound. While eventually he’d probably seek revenge later on for the time being it was all worth it. Not that someone like Corrine really could, considering he was at least half her size, and was as scrawny as all heck.
‘Would you make up your mind over which species I am?’ muttered Corrine, frustrated by Janice’s range of nicknames for him. Pup, kitty, shorty, Mr. Sunshine, fuzzball, fluffy, Dr. Evil, bookworm… ugh, he couldn’t stand them.
Karah stood up quickly, taking the chance to escape Isabella and Janice. ‘Excuse me, but I need to, um, study. Outside.’ She said quickly, heading for the door. Noticing the others’ blank expressions she grinned nervously. ‘Y’know… biology?’
As Karah shut the door Janice raised an eyebrow towards Isabella, who shrugged in response.
‘Nerd.’ Explained Isabella, which was met with another odd look from Janice.

Whilst Janice and Isabella gossiped about the other students (well, mainly Isabella did) and chatted about Isabella’s clothing designs Corrine made his way to the door, planning to slip out unnoticed. He managed to make it out the door without a sound, leaving the door ajar by accident. Well, perhaps not by accident… Corrine didn’t make mistakes. At least, that’s what he believed. He had to ask himself why he hadn’t just teleported out of the room, or cloaked himself via mentally blocking his image from the dreadful duo’s minds… it wasn’t like him to think unstrategically like that. Perhaps he had ulterior motives for allowing the two to mess with him…
Corrine quickly shook the thought from his head as he made him way out of the dormitory block, levitating some height above the ground in order to put himself on the same level as the other students’ faces. Not that there were a lot around at the moment; as it was the weekend and most went home. Corrine was headed home himself, having only stayed to…
Another question he had no answer for. Perhaps he was growing too attached to his teammates. Yes, relying on others was a weakness, and the thought would thus have to be erased. That’s what his mother would say. And that’s what he had to say, right? He had to follow his parents’ example. That was the only way he’d reach his dream. His utopia. His dominion…

Corrine reached his home after quite some time, as his house was quite a distance from the PCA, and he couldn’t really move very fast without looking foolish, since his body didn’t have the endurance to run for very long distances. His powers were little help too, as his energy was quickly diminished if he tried using his levitation to zoom about or what not for more than a couple of minutes, and his teleportation wasn’t much help for long distances either. While he was a powerful psychic he was far more skilled in telepathy and telekinesis than levitation and teleportation, as they were far from subtle abilities. He preferred more subtle abilities since he wasn’t much of a front-on fighter, instead preferring to manipulate his foes to assure his victory. That was also why he didn’t do well in the PCA’s arena, although that was also a bit of a façade to keep anyone from guessing his true strengths. Being underestimated was a far greater boon than most would believe. And it was particularly easy for people to underestimate Corrine, since he was one of the shortest in the school, along with his cutesy appearance. Sometimes he hated that, though… people never took him seriously either…

The Walker’s home was a marvel of technology, in a way. The actual home was simply being a large steel cube, a very strange exterior and a very unaesthetically pleasing sight. Beyond the arched double doors was a totally alien dimension, a beautiful high-class hallway, decorated as to have an Arabic feel to it. As the hallway continued there were several doors, revealing that the entire place was an Arabic palace in the dead of night, regardless of the time outside.
The home was not physically like this inside, this instead by a physical projection of psychic energy. The home’s true state was as it appeared from the outside, a steel cube. However, a large device allowed the siphoning of psychic energies in order to project a mentally created design for the interior. This was simply an amplification of the move Trick Room, and the device owned by the Walkers was a prototype of a design created by Corrine’s father. The machine was maintained by Cairo and Corrine biweekly with a charge of psychic energy, which kept the illusion alive. However, whilst the device had quite incredible possibilities there were several disadvantages in the design, the main one being the expensiveness of the product, which was why the Walkers used the prototype. The device could not simulate too many rooms, and thus the layout had to be changed often in order to create the rooms desired. With the amount of detail the Walkers’ design required the machine could only maintain around five rooms, but it was worth the price with the awe-inspiring sights; a perfect way of impressing possible business partners. The device also could not supply all of the furniture in the rooms, so most of the furniture had been specially commissioned by Cairo and Orion, and had ended up being incredibly expensive. Not that money was really such a problem for a champion fighter and the boss of one of the larger companies of Kanto and it’s surrounding regions.

Corrine entered through the arched doors cautiously, expecting his mother to start interrogating him about why he wasn’t home straight away. He always expected that… but it never happened. All of his classmates had talked of how they had so much trouble with their parents finding out about the trouble they’d caused, but Cairo simply never asked. Being a psychic she could just scan him in a heartbeat. He couldn’t keep anything out of her eyes… that was probably why he never talked about himself to others, really. Never had a need to in the first place.
He continued moving through his household, heading for his room. It was likely Cairo was in the dining room or whatever it was this time at the moment, doing whatever she did. He didn’t know himself, actually. He couldn’t read her mind, since she was a Dark-type. He found him where he thought he would as he progressed towards his room. However, much to his curiosity, rather than being found deep in papers the Umbreon was simply filing through some letters.
‘Good day, Corrine.’ She said in a stern but unaggressive tone. Assertive probably would’ve been a better word for it, thought Corrine. He hated wasting anything; from money to even his thoughts.
Corrine chose not to respond to his parent, instead continuing his path towards his room.
‘Your father died today.’ Said Cairo, her voice not at all changing tone. Corrine turned to her, cocking his head in curiosity.
‘I assume that means that his business is in your hands?’ he asked in a tone similar to her own, with the Umbreon nodding in response.
‘Yes, I will be taking over from him. I believe he was starting to lose profits, anyway. I am sure my control will be far more profitable to the company.’
Corrine nodded thoughtfully. ‘How did he die, exactly?’
‘A possible assassination. Found dead in his office, and the cause of death has been confirmed as arsenic poisoning. It was likely a business rival attempted to ruin the company by disposing of him; or perhaps he was simply dealing with the wrong people.’ Explained Cairo, her tone still unchanging.
Corrine nodded once again, before leaving the way he came, rather than heading to his room.

Corrine walked out of their home with his usual formal stride, this news unchanging his appearance. Upon escaping the realm of Cairo’s control, however, his knees trembled and he fell to the ground; tears beginning to roll, and his stomach lurching. His father was dead…
True, he had never been too close to his father; as the man had always been at his company or overseas for business. But he knew him better than Cairo, as his mind could be read. He was a stern man, but he could feel that he had some emotion to him. He couldn’t make anything of Cairo’s constant coldness. And now she hadn’t even reacted to the death of her husband. Marriage was meant to about love, wasn’t it? He didn’t really understand that himself, but that was what he’d understood from his studies. Perhaps to Cairo and Orion it was more of a business agreement…

Corrine let his emotions cave in, for perhaps the first ever time. He let the tears roll, he let his heart sink…
The tiny Espeon sobbed quietly on the grass before the concrete cube, restraining himself from truly pouring his heart out. This was simply humiliating to most of him, but to a tiny part of his mind something was resonating. There was something gratifying about letting his feelings out like this; something he hadn’t experienced in… ever? While he was depressed, there was something that felt right about this pointless flow of emotion. It was proof that he was alive and thinking; it was recognition of the difference between sentient beings such as himself and the feral species that lived across the world. Maybe Karah was right… maybe he did need to think about more with his spirit rather than heart. This did feel good, in some way…
After almost half an hour Corrine sturdied himself, retaking control of his mind and feelings. He had no more time for such things, there were far greater matters afoot. He had to get to the bottom of this mystery; identify the murderer of his father. And, perhaps, get revenge. He liked revenge… that was one feeling he could truly understand. Some people called him a sadist; a megalomaniac; a psychopath… but in the end, who won?

Corrine thought back in order to figure out who the perpetrator was. Corrine had only surveyed all the company’s records and high-security records recently. Being part of the family allowed him access to the basic records, and his father’s password had only been twenty characters so it had taken little effort for him to break into the company’s confidential database. There had been no suspicious transactions even in those records, though, which could have been proof of any possible debts or transactions that could have brought hatred upon his father. Besides, there weren’t many people who knew how to disarm all the building’s security precautions. So it would have to be one of Orion’s most trusted…
After all this, Corrine still couldn’t shake the thought from his mind. It had been there as soon as he started thinking over the details, and regardless of how the looked at them they always seemed to lead to that concept. There had to be another way for this to have happened. Cairo wouldn’t have… would she?



Well, after about three plus months I've finally gotten around to finishing this. I'm pretty crummy at writing stories; I just never get them done in one sitting. They always take so much time; and I'm a fairly impatient person, so I prefer roleplaying or creating more characters. Still, here you are. Plenty of angst in this, but I think it's well justified. Still, it's up to you on how you interpret Corrine now. Is he still a selfish megalomaniac with dreams of destroying the world; or is he are his dreams simply a way he is trying to show his true colours? Or maybe he's just yearning for acceptance from his parents; plotting and trying to take control in order to prove himself to his family? Well, it's your decision...