The sounds of people chatting on the pathways on the campus crept through the open window and gently pulled Sanya from her sleep. She slowly opened one eye. Her vision was blurry and the light instantly made Sanya’s head buzz. She felt hung over. What the hell had Allie given her? She closed her eye again and tried to drift back to her dreams, but it was no use. She grunted and resigned to her fate. Alright, time to get going for the day. She took a deep breath and pushed herself up. Nothing happened. That was odd. She tried again, but to no avail. Only now did she look down herself and realised the complete absence of her arms. Her shoulders just rounded off with her arms nowhere to be seen. Panic began to set in and she began breathing quicker. She craned her neck and inspected the shape of her body beneath her blanket. Something was off. The blanket flattened out earlier than it should. Sanya tried to raise her legs, but the result was the same as with her arms.

“ALLIE”, she shrieked in panic. She heard the squeaking sound of rubber tires on the floor and a few seconds later Allie maneuvered herself through the doorway using her single leg. She was holding her crutches in place with her arms.

“Good morning sunshine”, Allie tweeted.

"What did you do to me?" Sanya croaked out, her throat dry.

Allie smiled coldly. "I did to you what you did to me," she said, gesturing to her missing leg. "I used the Atomizer to remove your limbs. But don't worry, they'll grow back eventually. Though…that not for the foreseeable future.”

Sanya could feel fear creeping in. “What do you mean?” She asked weakly.

“Well… I thought about what you did to me. I thought about what my life will look like for the next three years, the three years that were supposed to be among the best of my life, and how you selfishly stole my college years, or at least a part of the fun”, Allie said. “I decided to return the favour, only…amplified. I decided that doing to you exactly what you did to me wasn’t enough.”

“What exactly did you do?”

“I won’t tell you that. I just know that you will be back on your feet in a year. No guarantees for your arms tho.” Allie winked.

“YOU DID WHAT??” Sanya screamed. “YOU ASSHOLE!! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?”

“Relax”, Allie said. I promise the year will fly by, and you are hot enough for guys to trip over each other to assist the helpless exotic hottie.”

“SHUT UP! YOU RUINED MY LIFE YOU BITCH!”

Allie's face twisted in anger. "You did it to me first!" she spat. "You took away my leg for three years! I can't walk, I can't dance, I can't even go to class without people staring at me!"

Sanya felt a pang of guilt as she remembered what she had done to Allie. There was a pause.

"I'm sorry," Sanya said eventually after she took a deep breath. "I shouldn't have done that to you. But this...this is too much, Allie. How could you do this to me?" Tears started rolling down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them off, but other than a twitch of her right shoulder, nothing happened. Sanya winced with frustration.

Allie's anger seemed to deflate, replaced by a look of shame. "I don't know," she said again. "I was so angry and hurt, and I just wanted to be in control for once. But maybe I went to far."

There was another pause. Eventually, Allie spoke up again. “I’m sorry, Sanya. I really am. I should’ve stopped at some point.”

Sanya felt a mix of anger and sadness. She couldn't believe that Allie had done this to her. "I don't know if I can forgive you," she said slowly.

She lay there, processing everything that had just happened. She felt numb and overwhelmed, like she couldn't quite comprehend the magnitude of what Allie had done to her. She looked up and saw Dan and John, standing in the doorway, watching the exchange in silence.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sanya asked.

"We heard shouting and came to check on you," Dan said. "What happened?"

Allie looked up at them, tears still in her eyes. "I used the Atomizer on Sanya," she said quietly. “I removed all of Sanya’s limbs and she’ll be a temporary quadruple amputee for the next 12 months at least.

John and Dan looked at each other, stunned. They had known about the tension between Allie and Sanya after Sanya had removed Allie’s leg, but they never expected Allie to retaliate in such a crass manner.

"You did what?" John asked, his voice rising in anger. "That's not something you do to someone, Allie."

"I know," Allie said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I didn't mean for it to go this far."

John shook his head in disbelief. "You can't just go around doing things like that," he said.

"What were you thinking?"

Allie looked up, her eyes flashing with anger. "What was I thinking? What about what she did to me?" she spat, pointing at Sanya. "She removed my leg. I’ll crutch around for three years because of her. I know I went too far, but let’s not pretend this wasn’t premeditated.“

Sanya felt a knot form in her stomach as she listened to Allie's words. For a split second, guilt crept into her mind once again, but then she tried to sit up. When nothing happened, the guilt quickly disappeared and the anger was back.

She looked at Allie, tears streaming down her face. "How can you still justify this…” she nodded down her body “… with what I did? Do you realise what you've done to me? I can't walk, I can't even get out of bed without help. How am I supposed to live like this?"

Allie's expression softened. "Dammit, I know, Sanya. I know I went too far. I just wanted you to understand how it feels to be at someone else's mercy," she said, her voice breaking. "I'm sorry.” She looked away, ashamed of what she had done.

Sanya looked at John and Dan, tears still streaming down her face. "What am I supposed to do now?" she asked. "How am I supposed to live like this?"

John walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure it out, Sanya. We'll take care of you," he said.

Sanya looked up at John, grateful for the reassurance. Allie watched them silently. She knew she had gone too far.

"Can you guys give me a moment alone with Allie?" Sanya asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Dan and John exchanged a glance before nodding and quietly exiting the room. Sanya waited until she heard the door close before turning to face Allie.

“I think it’s best if we both cool off for a bit. I need to get to grips with this”, she said.

Allie nodded slowly. She struggled to process her emotions. On the one hand, she felt guilty for what she did to Sanya, but at the same time she was still unbelievably angry with her. Maybe some time apart wasn’t such a bad idea. “I agree”, she said simply.

"I need you to leave me alone for a while," Sanya said, her voice firm. "I need to figure out how to live like this, and I need to be alone from you. At least right now. Please go."

Allie nodded. She got up from the wheelchair and crutched out of the room.

As Allie left, Dan and John entered. "How are you feeling, Sanya?" Dan asked gently.

Sanya took a deep breath before speaking. “About as well as you’d expect. Can you guys help me sit up?" she asked.

“Sure, hang on”, said Dan.

He approached Sanya and bent down. He carefully slid his hand beneath her back, placed the other on her side and pulled her up into a sitting position Sanya tried to help with her abdominal muscles, but wasn’t sure how much she was actually helping.

“Thank you”, she said and shot Dan a weak smile. “Can you help me get to my mirror? I want to see myself."

“Sure”, Dan said. He put one arm around Sanya’s back and slowly slid his other hand beneath her rump. Very carefully, he lifted Sanya’s truncated body up. He was surprised by how light she was. He carried her over to her full-length mirror, her empty sleeves and pant legs dangling below her, and set her down before it.

Sanya took a deep breath, seeing how little of her was left.

“Can you guys help me get undressed? Get everything off, I want to see what I have left.”

Dan and John exchanged a concerned glance.

“What? Come on, it’s not like we haven’t been liberal with nudity here before. I know I can trust you guys and if what Allie said is true, I’m going to need your help for many things for quite some time, at least until I figure out how to do them myself”, Sanya said. “I trust you guys. It’s fine.”

“If you insist…”, John said. He grabbed Sanya’s shirt at the seam and pulled it over her head. It slipped of easily with no arms in the way. Then he grabbed Sanya by her sides and Dan first pulled off Sanya’s pants and then her panties before John set her back down on the floor in front of the mirror.

Sanya stared at her reflection, tears streaming down her face. She tried to move her arms and legs, but there was nothing there. She felt overwhelmed by emotions, unsure how to process everything. Her pussy was wide open with no legs on either side. Instead, it was framed by her bare hips. Her hips and shoulders looked as though they had never sported any limbs. They had small dimples where her skin and muscle had filled out the empty joints.

Dan and John watched her silently, giving her the space to explore her limited body.

After a few minutes, Sanya asked Dan and John to help her get ready. They put her into the wheelchair and brought her to the bathroom, where they helped her shower, brush her teeth, and do her hair. Once they were back in her room, they helped Sanya get dressed. They went through her closet together. Sanya directed Dan and John through her closet, picking out the clothes she wanted to wear. She ended up picking hot pants and a cute tight short sleeved pink top. It was November, but since she had no limbs that would get cold, she figured she might as well go with short sleeves. During this entire ordeal, Sanya tried to get to grips with the entire situation. It was odd to be so completely helpless. She had done that once before, for one evening during a movie night with her roommates, but that was only for a very short while. This time it would take her body years to be complete again. It was a completely different situation for her. It was frustrating, but to her surprise, she found it exhilarating, at least a little. Once she was dressed, Dan went to talk to Allie while John wheeled Sanya to the living room.

John made breakfast and fed it to Sanya, trying to make small talk to distract her from her thoughts. Sanya appreciated the gesture, but she was still reeling from everything that had happened. She didn't know how she was going to navigate her new life without her limbs.

Over in Allie’s room, Dan found Allie lying on her bed. She was wearing a short dress, which highlighted the single leg that was extending from her hips. She was facing the wall, her back turned to the door.

“Allie, can we talk for a minute?” Dan asked as he entered.

“I’m not getting out of that one, so we might as well get it over with”, Allie sighed and turned around.

“What were you thinking? I mean…I know that Sanya got you first, but this…this is too much.”

“I know. I was so angry with her and I wanted to pay her back for it. I went to far, and I can’t reverse it”, Allie sobbed.

“I understand that, but Sanya will feel these consequences long after she left college. I don’t know what you should say, but you need to straighten this out.”

“I know.”

“Sanya’s currently having breakfast. I’ll test the waters and if she’s willing to talk to you, you should come over and do that. I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks”, Allie just said.

Dan got up and quietly left the room.

Allie sat down opposite from Sanya. There was a brief moment of silence, before Allie spoke up.

“I’m sorry, Sanya, I truly am. I was so angry at you. I finally got to move out from home and into the world, and when I woke up like…this” she gestured to her single leg “I was so angry and frustrated. It felt as though you had taken my life away from me, and I felt that I had to do the same to you. I am so sorry. This is in no way proportional, in no way justified. While I felt like you had taken my life away from me, I actually did that. I know it was a horrible thing to do. And the worst part is, I know you would never intentionally hurt me. When I came here, you gave me the sweetest and greatest welcome I could’ve hoped for. You took away all my fears of moving out from home and made my dream of venturing into the unknown, of starting this new chapter of my life as great as I couldn’t even dare to hope. All of you”, Allie said, looking at Dan and John as well. “I know you would never intentionally hurt me like you did. I was angry and hurt and I didn’t even attempt to contain my anger. I just went with it. That was wrong, so incredibly wrong, and I don’t know how to make it up to you.” Tears were streaming down Allie’s cheeks.

It was silent again.

Eventually, Sanya spoke up.

“I don’t know how to process this. I don’t know if I’m sad, or angry, or afraid, or maybe all of it. You have no idea what you did to me, and I don’t know if I can forgive you. Even so, what’s done is done. I can’t change it, neither can you. Make no mistake, I’m pissed at you. I’m livid. I don’t know if I forgive you, but we have got to move on”, Sanya said, her voice barely a whisper.

Allie nodded.

“Here’s what’s going to happen: I can’t take notes, or go independently from class to class, or write exams. I will have to resign from soccer and volleyball, and I can’t do my job. I have no idea how to do college like this. In two hours, you and I are going to see the dean. You are going to explain what happened. You are also going to explain this to my boss and to my parents. You will help me out when I need it, you will help me do my college assignments.”

Allie just nodded. This was going to be painful.

“We will start with my parents and my boss, then we will head over to the dean. Go and fetch the phone please.”

­­­Two hours later, Allie and Sanya were sitting in the dean’s office. The past few hours had been unpleasant to say the least. Sanya’s parents had been livid and eventually Sanya herself had come to Allie’s defense. Allie had been looking forward to meeting Sanya’s parents. Now that was out of the question, at least for the time being.

Sanya’s boss had been a different story. Allie didn’t know why, but Sanya’s boss was very eager to find a solution, and she quickly offered Sanya a job answering the phone. All Allie had to do to help out was buy a voice command headset. She could do that.

Now they were sitting in the dean’s office, and Allie was once again anxious to see what was going to happen to her.

“Miss Benson, this is a first for us. You intentionally removed another student’s limbs, severely disabling her and severely impacting her time at this college”, the dean said once Allie and Sanya had filled him in on the situation. “We will offer you free credits, Sanya, and assistance in writing your exams. You can take a laptop with the necessary software, and where that isn’t an option, we will find another solution, either through free class credits or through other means of assistance.”

“That is awfully kind”, said Sanya.

“I’m afraid it’s not all good news for you. In return for the free credits, we need you to take an extra year, so that we at least see the chance that you learn enough in our classes.”

Sanya swallowed. “Is that really necessary?”

“I’m afraid so, I’m sorry. This is non-negotiable.”

“I guess I’ll have to accept that then”, Sanya muttered.

“As for you, Allie, your behaviour is unacceptable. You severely disrupted your fellow students, and we can’t accept that. I’m afraid we have no other choice but to expel you.”

“What??” Allie said.

“You have left us no other choice”, the dean said matter-of-factly. “You will gather your things, get everything in order and move back home to your family at the end of this week.”

Tears started welling up in Allie’s eyes. She was completely stunned. She had expected some kind of punishment, but not expulsion.

“Excuse me?” A voice cut through the silence and through the fog in Allie’s head. It was Sanya. “I don’t want her to be expelled.”

Allie and the dean turned to Sanya with surprise.

“What?” Allie asked.

“I don’t want Allie to be expelled”, Sanya repeated firmly. “What she did to me is horrible, but I started it. Look at it, I removed her leg. Allie overdid it, but I was the one who started it. If you expel Allie, you have to expel me as well.”

The dean thought about that. “Are you sure?” he finally asked.

“Yes. Besides, if I graduate a year later, she will graduate with me. I need someone to help me and I think it would be unfair for us to place that burden on Dan’s and John’s shoulders alone.”

“Very well then. Instead, I will enter a formal reprimand into your file, Allie. Consider this your final warning. If you step out of line once, you will be expelled.”

“I understand”, Allie said. She couldn’t believe it. Why had Sanya defended her?

“Alright, that concludes the meeting. You two are placed on temporary leave until next month to figure yourselves out. When you return, we expect you to make up for the lessons you have missed.”

The dean got up and opened the door. Allie got up and carefully pulled Sanya’s wheelchair around. Then she hopped out the door, pushing the wheelchair ahead of her. Outside, Dan and John were waiting. Dan took over the wheelchair from Allie.

“What happened in there?” John asked.

“We’ll talk about it at home”, Sanya replied.

­­­­­­­­­­­­

Back at the flat, the group assembled in the living room.

“Why did you help me?” Allie asked.

“What you said before, a few hours ago, it resonated with me. I’m pissed, but I’m not that pissed, you know?”

“Thank you”, Allie said. “Seriously.”

“Yeah, alright”, Sanya quipped.

Allie turned to Dan and John.

“I owe you two an apology as well. By doing this to Sanya, I greatly affected all of your lives. I truly am sorry.”

“Thank you for apologising”, Dan said.

“We’ll think of a way for you to make it up to us.” John added with a wink.

Allie just smiled weakly.

Later that day, Allie and Sanya were sitting on the couch, watching television, when Sanya suddenly turned to Allie.

“You know, if it weren’t for so long, I’d actually dig this.”

“You would?”

“Yeah. It’s exciting.”

“You look amazing. You know the guys on campus will be tripping over each other to help you, right?”

“You think so?”

“I know so”, Allie said.

“Huh, I hadn’t thought about that. But you will get some of that as well.”

“What do you mean?”

“John, Dan and I discussed your punishment. They graciously agreed to help out, and we will take your arms and your last leg until we go back to classes next month.”

“You’re kidding?!”

“Nope. We’ll take them tonight.”

“I guess that’s fair”, Allie sighed. Then she smiled. She realised that she didn’t mind too much, because she knew she could count on her roommates to be there for her. “Oh by the way, do you want to know when exactly which part of you comes back?”

Sanya thought for a second.

“No, not really”, she said. “You said my legs will be back in one year, right?”

“Yeah”, Allie said, “but you might be more mobile even earlier.”

“That’s all I need to know.”

“Okay then, but if you change your mind just ask”, Allie said.

“Will do.”

They returned their attention to the television.

Later that night, Dan and John removed Allie’s remaining limbs under careful instructions from Sanya. They didn’t take everything, but instead left Allie with most of her upper arms and her last upper leg. They switched settings to make the tips of her stumps a little pointier. When they were done, Allie looked like a starfish with a missing tip. She inspected herself and began moving around the flat. It was exhausting, but her stumps actually let her grab things and gave her some mobility.

After Dan and John had helped the girls get ready for bed, Allie and Sanya fell into a deep sleep in their now oversized beds.