Clock Tower 3

Chapter Seven: The Corroder

No, this couldn't be happening, Alyssa thought as she stared wide-eyed at the scene that was laid out before her. How was it even possible that another crazed murderer had just killed someone right in front of her, and somehow knew who she was? Albert and his mother were dead, their bodies slowly being… being corroded in that drum full of acid, and there he was… this costumed freak… this… Corroder… the intruder who had done the horrible deed… was laughing about it.

"I got so excited when they said you'd returned home." The intruder said, still laughing as he adjusted the showerhead. "See, I got so tired of hearing about Nancy all the time… it was always Nancy, Nancy, Nancy. Well, it looks like Mr. Morris screwed up his chance with you, so now you're mine, Alyssa, and this time… it's all about you."

Laughing again as he pointed the showerhead at her, Alyssa gasped and barely had enough time to move out of the way as the acid was shot over a much greater distance than it had been when he had used it on the Rand family. The corrosive fluid immediately started to eat through the paint on the wall, and the intruder laughed when the girl tripped over a rocking horse, but he stopped when she started throwing things at him from where she landed on the floor.

"What are you playing at, Alyssa?" The intruder asked as a plate sailed past his head. "Where is your weapon? Unless… did you truly come here without it? Oh, ho-ho, Nancy really didn't teach you anything about being a Rooder, did she? Well, your first lesson is to die!"

The Corroder slowly aimed the showerhead at her and squeezed the trigger, but at the same time Alyssa's hand closed around a bottle of some kind of chemical. She instinctively tossed it at him, and the glass shattered when the acid connected with the container. The chemical itself then burst into flames as it splashed onto him, making the intruder scream as his whole body burst into flames as well. He flailed around as the blueish colored fire consumed him, stumbling back toward the open door, and falling backwards down them after Alyssa tossed another heavy object at his head.

Now, if this Corroder was anything like the Hammer Killer had been, then a little fire and a tumble down the stairs was not going to be enough to stop him. It would, however, give the girl a chance to escape, so Alyssa got up and ran to the other door that she had seen. This one led to another wooden staircase, but this time it was outside, and behind the house, so she followed it in the hopes of finding a way out.

As she went down the stairs, the girl had some time to think about things a little bit more. Namely, how both the Hammer Killer and the Corroder seemed to know her mother. Both had referenced some kind of weapon that she was apparently supposed to have, and both had accused her mother of failing to teach her anything about… about being whatever the hell a Rooder was. She wanted to dwell on these thoughts some more, but that was when she reached the bottom of the stairs… and saw something.

It was on top of the tall wooden fence that separated the backyards of this and the next townhouse, blowing in the wind, and she might not have not noticed it at all in the pouring rain, if not for the bright colors. It was the shawl that Albert had knitted for his mother, Alyssa was sure of it, and… it must've blown out the window or something during the struggle with the Corroder. Now she was remembering more about what happened with the Hammer Killer; how she had gotten May's father's watch back from him, and that somehow allowed the little girl's ghost to be free.

So was that it? Was that why she had gone both back to the 1940's and to this place? Was she there to save the Rands just like she had saved May? If that was the case, then she needed to get that shawl, so wiping the water out of her eyes and moving up to the fence, Alyssa jumped while grabbing for it. She missed, only by mere inches by the looks of it, so she tried again, but missed when the wind blew it slightly upward away from her hand.

"There you are!" The Corroder declared as he kicked open the door at the top of the stairs. "I'm coming for you, Alyssa!"

There was no more time to try and grab the shawl, since the intruder was now running down the wooden stairs toward her, so Alyssa had to abandon it for now. The fence was too high for her to climb, and there were no gates or other means of escape, leaving her only option to take the single door that seemed to lead back into the house. It was better than staying outside with the Corroder, so she pulled open the door, ran through, and was trying to shut it in order to lock the bolt, when the intruder shoved his arm with the showerhead through the opening.

He pulled the trigger, making Alyssa yelp while jumping back to avoid the spray that was now sizzling on the doorframe, and allowing the intruder to enter the room. The room, it turns out, was a large garage of some kind that took up most of the first floor of the house, by the look of it, and was filled with scrap metal, old machines, and the like. Laughing again, the intruder sprayed the acid at her, but the girl managed to avoid it by running sideways, and jumping up onto a low platform that was behind a bunch of iron bars.

"You can't save them, Alyssa." The Corroder continued, peering at her through between the bars. "Albert and Dorothy are mine forever… their spirit and agony feeds me, just as yours will."

Alyssa had no intention of letting him feed off her spirit, so she shoved the iron bars forward so that the fell onto him, and was about to jump down from the platform, when he grabbed her by the ankle. Pulling hard enough to get her foot right out from under her, Alyssa groaned when she landed hard on her back on the platform, but then she froze when he shoved the showerhead right in her face.

"Does this scare you, Alyssa?" The Corroder asked, leaning over her so his mask was close to her face as well. "Is the little Rooder afraid? I can't wait to see the look on Chopper's face when he finds out that I'm the one who put your spirit in chains. That fool spent decades obsessing over his precious little Nancy, even going so far as to forbid us from going after her… but you're not Nancy, are you, Alyssa? I'm going to blind you just like Albert and Dorothy, and then…

Alyssa couldn't deny that she was terrified to the point of shaking while the intruder gave his speech while holding the showerhead to her face. But then it happened: At some point during his rant about her mother, the intruder moved the showerhead away from her just a little, and that was when she turned his words into a grunt of pain by slamming her foot into his groin. This made him stumble backwards, spraying his own feet with the acidic fluid instead of her, and Alyssa took further advantage of this opportunity by picking up one of the bars, and swinging it right into the side of his head.

There was a loud clang as the bar connected with his skull, making him groan and stumble sideways, but then the girl made another swing, this time making him fall to his hands and knees after stumbling from the impact. She was already getting winded from the effort, but the intruder was starting to get back up, so she raised the bar over her head, and brought it down onto his back with all her strength, dropping him down to the floor.

"You stupid wench." He groaned, starting to get up again. "You think I'll let you interfere? They thought they beat me at the chemical plant, too, but they were wrong. I'll always come back, and…

"Shut up!" Alyssa interrupted, bringing the bar down again. "Just shut up, you… you lunatic!"

Now breathing and sweating heavily from the effort of lifting the heavy bar, the girl raised it up one more time, but she was not fast enough to stop the Corroder. He let go of the showerhead, letting it and the hose hang from his side as he caught the bar with both hands, slowly standing up and then pushing Alyssa back until she was pinned against the wall with it across her throat.

"That's enough of your lip, little girl." The intruder said angrily, pushing the bar enough to choke her. "We all have a destiny; mine is to feed on more and more tortured spirits for all time, and yours… yours is to die at my hand, Alyssa."

The intruder pushed the bar harder on her throat, choking Alyssa to the point where she couldn't breathe at all, and no matter how much she kicked and punched him, she just wasn't able to shake him off. Her vision was starting to get dark now, but just as the Corroder was starting to laugh again, the girl's hand closed around the showerhead. This was her only chance, so she pointed it right in his face, and pressed the trigger, making him scream as the spray of acidic fluid made his face smolder.

This made him release his grip on the bar, and as much as Alyssa wanted to stay there and gasp for breath, she kept spraying the intruder, keeping with him as he stumbled backwards. He tried to grab the showerhead, but now his arms were smoldering to the point where his clothes and flesh were starting to melt, but Alyssa still didn't let up when he fell onto his back. She just kept spraying and spraying, ignoring his gurgles and choking sounds while his body slowly melted, and then he was still.

The girl kept spraying him until the tanks ran out, and then she dropped the showerhead on the floor. For the longest time Alyssa just stood there, staring wide-eyed at what she had done, and when she was finally able to move again, the first thing she did was run over to the corner of the room and vomit. She had seen the Hammer Killer's gruesome death only recently, but this was completely different. This was just… horrible… and she wondered how he could have done this to…

"Albert and his mother!" She exclaimed, remembering about them as she ran toward the door, intent on getting that shawl.