Hand Sanitizer Stings

A flurry of footsteps sounded through the labyrinth as a chase escalated. A low growl sounded in their throat as they pressed their Octobrush into the ground to gain ground. The flash of pink was hard to lose in the darkness.

**Destroy. Destroy. Destroy.**

They drooled green liquid at the thought. Their Octobrush scraped to a halt as it ran out of ink, so they quickly ditched it, letting out a snarl as the pink only got further away.

**Destroy. Destroy. Destroy.**

They clawed at the wall during a turn, sinking their nails into the concrete and using it to fling themself forward. They could almost grab the flowing pink tentacles in front of them, but a swipe proved a failure which made them only growl louder.

A particularly sharp turn caught their prey off-guard, causing him to stumble. They used their momentum to bounce off the wall, barreling the other Octoling over.

The two rolled until they were on top of him. They sunk their nails into his soft flesh, opening their jaws wide to expose their fangs. He swatted at their face, flinging off their glasses, but it didn’t phase them. They would end this any way they could. They needed to destroy.

He blindly groped around for his weapon, grabbing the side of their face with his free hand and pushing their gaping maw away from his throat.

His hands were so warm.

Their nose unwrinkled as the snarl that was building deep in their broken throat began to disappear. Their mouth slowly closed.

They didn’t flinch when he pressed the Blaster to their temple.

But when he moved his hand away their eyes welled up with thick tears. They rolled down their face and pattered against his test subject uniform.

He froze, utterly stunned by the display of emotion from the sanitized enemy. In all his years of testing, he had never experienced anything of the sort.

They slowly sank down, pressing themself against his warm body. His rapid heartbeat pulsed against their cheek and they closed their eyes and just listened. The rhythmic beat drowning out all their in-built murderous thoughts.

They remained like that for a long time.

And he didn’t stop them, they were just a kid after all.