Chapter 25

Tonya's world was a plethora of colors, images, and sounds, both created and surrealistically distorted by the stimulation she was getting from the therapy; she had long since lost any sense of where she was, what was happening to her, or even which way was up or down. What had seemed excruciatingly painful at first was now a warm envelope of intense feeling, sending her into a disconnected state of simultaneous totality and nothingness...

She caught fleeting glimpses of recognizable forms, brief images of familiar people, places and things in her delirium. She started feeling sensations of being pulled somewhere, but with no indication of where she was heading; unable to exert any conscious control over her body, she simply went with the flow.

Tonya realized that she could move freely; it confused her, since she didn't remember being released from the test bench, but she couldn't feel anything restraining her movements. She walked, or something that felt like walking to her, anyway; whatever she was walking on appeared to be solid, so she cautiously made her way forward.

As she moved forward, her steps slid, giving Tonya the feeling that she was skating, her years of training letting her legs adapt to the slippery surface instantly. She found herself looking down to see if she was wearing skates, but was surprised to realize that she was barefoot; it was almost as if her feet were skates themselves!

Tonya quickly started to relish her new-found freedom, going into her championship routine almost instinctively; the feeling was much more exhilarating than she had ever remembered it being, and it inspired her, filling her with incredible energy! She decided to try a triple axel; she went into her approach, launching herself higher than she'd ever been before!

'One... ' she counted to herself.

'Two... '

'Three... '

'FOUR?!?!?'

Tonya almost broke her position from the surprise, but made an absolutely perfect landing! Shocked, she stopped herself...

"I just did a QUADRUPLE Axel! That's IMPOSSIBLE!"

Unbelieving, she had to try again; she went into her approach the same as before, launching herself and making four revolutions, culminating in a flawless landing for a second time!

"This CAN'T be happening!" Tonya cried out, stopping herself.

"Why not?"

Tonya turned, the familiar voice startling her; standing in front of her, dressed in a resplendent silver outfit, was Nancy! Something about her looked... different, though...

"Why are YOU here?" Tonya was confused, but definitely NOT happy to see her tormentor.

"Because I'm your WORST ENEMY!" Nancy gloated!

"What's going on here???" Tonya demanded, in a mixture of confusion and anger.

"What do you THINK is happening?

"Answer me, dammit!" Tonya was filling with rage against Nancy for the torment she'd suffered at her hands, "I just did something that's TOTALLY impossible!!! How did I do it?"

"How do you THINK you did it?"