Sitting in her upstairs bedroom, McKenzie sat on her bed. Dressed in a black, short sleeve shirt and a short black and white checkerboard skirt, she pulled on a pair of ankle socks. Then, she got up, walked to the door and picked up a pair of brand new white and black sneakers. Walking back to her bed, McKenzie sat down again.
Pulling the first sneaker on, McKenzie tired the laces tight, then pulled on the other sneaker and stood up. Gently stomping her feet to make sure they were comfortable, the shoes flashed red from the lights built into the heels.
"Alright, now that that's all set up." McKenzie said, "Time for the important part."
McKenzie turned around and knelt down, reaching under the bed. She grabbed onto and pulled out a thin piece of wood from under the bed. Built on top was and entire miniature castle and village set. The edges were lined for forests of trees, there were farm houses and barns scattered about and, in the middle was a highly detailed castle, complete with a walled in village and large palace for royalty. There were even dozens of plastic figurines for villagers, soldiers, knights, and farmers as well as carts and wagons drawn by horses.
The model set took up most of the floor space in McKenzie's bedroom. Walking carefully around it, the castle walls only reaching up to about her ankles, she walked to the door and peaked outside.
"Hello?" she whispered, carefully walking to the top of the stairs down the hall, "Anyone home?"
From the top of the stairs, McKenzie heard and saw no sign of her "dad". Figuring all was clear, McKenzie walked back to her room and closed the door.
With her back pressed to the door, McKenzie grinned down at the model. She took a step towards it, her grin turning more and more mischievous.
"And now, it's just you and me, little kingdom." she said, "Time to be conquered!"
McKenzie's foot lifted over the forest of trees and came crashing down.
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Racing through the trees, 3 men on horseback galloped as fast as they could towards the castle. Behind them, the crashing and snapping of trees announced that their pursuer was right behind them and gaining fast. It grew louder and louder, the ground rumbling and thumbing with the impacts.
The lead messenger dared to look behind him and was horrified to see an enormous figure looming over them, dwarfing the trees. Her long hair fluttered out behind her as she stepped forward, the dark sole coming up and over the speeding horses. It came down fast.
Two of the horses veered aside but the third messenger disappeared as the massive shoe crashed down, flattening dozens of trees along with the messenger. A flash of bright red from the light in her shoe's heel impacting the ground and they were left broken in a massive footprint.
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High above, McKenzie watched the horses sprint just ahead of her steps. She could obviously walk faster but was having too much fun freaking out the riders. Sure, the one had lagged and got stepped on but at least she had 2 more to follow. Trees were pushed over and scrunched into the ground as McKenzie smashed a path of broken trees through the forest. She looked ahead, noticing the forest was close to ending, and smiled. Open ground would be so much more easier to freak the riders out on.
McKenzie looked back towards the ground and was slightly surprised. Now there was only one horse running ahead of her.
"Oh poo." McKenzie huffed, "Are you guys really this slow that I stepped on another of you without realizing?" She paused and looked back but couldn't see anything amid the mess of broken trees in her wake. A bit upset, she turned back and realized the messenger had gotten a huge lead on her. Letting out another sigh, McKenzie continued slowly walking after him.
The messenger breathed a sigh of relief. He had gotten a lot of distance but his partner had gone underfoot in the process. As he dashed past a farmhouse and barn, he looked back again. True, the girl was farther back then before but she was gaining again. He looked ahead; the castle gate wasn't too far away now. He looked back again and was shocked.
The girl had already reached the farm, just by casually walking after him. The barn shattered and exploded as it was pounded by one footstep. The girl's next step came down on the farmhouse, cleaving it in half as it crushed the two story tall house's midsection to the ground. Only the extreme ends of the house sticking out from the sneaker escaped a direct hit but were heavily damaged and nearly collapsed just from the impact of the step.
The messenger grew pale in the face, realizing he was actually leading the girl to the castle he was trying to warn of the danger right now! He didn't have a choice now. At least maybe he could get them to mount a defense. As he approached the gate, the messenger shouted at the top of his lungs. The guards had seen the danger coming but they quickly opened the gate, letting the horse and rider in, then slammed it shut again.
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Inside, the messenger quickly jumped off the horse and dashed for the palace. He raced up the steps and burst into the throne room in front of the king.
"Sire!" he shouted, "You are being invaded! There is a Titan outside!"
"A what?" the king asked.
"A Titan, your highness!" the messenger said, "A gigantic warrior."
"Oh please, there's no such thing as giants." the king said, obviously figuring the man for a fool, "Go ahead and show me this terrifying thing, you'll see it's nothing to be afraid of. Besides, we've defeated any invader that's ever approached our castle."
The king practically pushed the messenger ahead of him, heading for an open-air balcony. As he walked out, he looked towards the ground, expecting something small to be beating itself against the door of the castle walls. Instead, the king got a rather shocking surprise and his gaze went up and up and up.
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Standing outside the walls, McKenzie had caught up and found the castle rather quickly after the messenger had dashed inside. She now stood, towering high over the castle, arms folded over her chest, simply waiting. A big grin was on her face and when she noticed the king walk onto the balcony, she visibly stirred with glee.
"Ah, there you are, 'sire'" she said with sarcasm, "I was beginning to wonder if you would show."
"Who are you?!" the king shouted, "Where do you come from and what are your intentions?!"
McKenzie noticed the front gate open and rows of troops began marching out and forming ranks between her and the castle entrance. She couldn't help but giggle.
"Awwwww, look at you guys~" she said, bending over and putting her hands on her knees to look down at the army, "You're so tiny and cute. Not sure why you are coming out though, lining up like that."
She stood back up fully again, brushing her twintails back over her shoulders.
"The short answer is," she said, putting her attention back on the king, "My name is McKenzie and I've come to simply break your kingdom."
"You're gonna do what?!" the king said, "I demand to know, who has sent you to fight against us?"
"Ummmm, I guess, I sent me." McKenzie said, smiling, "No one sends me anywhere."
McKenzie noticed the walls and turrets of the castle were starting to fill with archers and catapults were being set up both inside and outside of the walls.
"Hmmm, this is gonna be fun." she thought to herself.
"So yeah, you can resist if you want to." McKenzie said, "But, I think I'll start breaking your stuff now!"
"You'll do no such thing!" the king shouted, "All soldiers, ATTACK!!"
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Rows upon rows of soldiers rushed forward, drawing swords and hacking away at McKenzie massive shoes. From the walls, archers released a hail fire of arrows. Knights on horseback made hit and run swipes with swords and threw lances.
From above, McKenzie simply stood still and looked down. Even large rocks were shattering against her ankles and legs, thrown by the catapults, and she barely felt them. Arrows were bouncing off, swords were actually breaking against her shoes, and lances couldn't penetrate the leather.
"Well, that has got to be embarrassing for you guys." McKenzie said, glaring down at her feet, "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll start now."
McKenzie's right sneaker lifted into the air, knocking over soldiers and raining down dirt and grass, moved it over, and stomped down. Dozens of soldiers, knights, and horses disappeared underneath the impact spot. Doing the same with her left sneaker, McKenzie stomped another huge section of the army. She stepped forward, leaving broken soldiers, knights, and horses in the craters.
Approaching a row of catapults, McKenzie startled away the operators, leaving them useless. Her sneaker came down on top of two of them. The catapults snapped and shattered underneath. Even the rock ammo was ground into gravel. McKenzie's other foot crushed another catapult, leaving only one remaining between her feet.
"Hmm, I wonder." McKenzie said. She knelt down, scattering more soldiers as she got closer to the ground, and reached down. Picking up the catapult in one hand, McKenzie stood up again.
"Isn't wood, fiber?" she said, "And isn't fiber good for the body? Hmmmm, can I eat you? Worth a try!"
McKenzie's mouth opened wide and the catapult went inside easily. With a crunch, McKenzie's teeth chewed and smashed the catapult, snapping the wood and mashing it to pulp before swallowing it completely.
"Ugh!" McKenzie said, "It is not great. I think I'll stick to stepping on those things instead."
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The army had thinned out a lot and McKenzie made a move towards the wall. Realizing this, the archers fired another salvo. And again, the arrows bounced off her socks. Grinning as she simply ignored them, McKenzie lifted a foot over one of the corner turrets full of archers. A few of them jumped off the tower but most were caught as McKenzie's sneaker hit the tower, twisting back and forth, and ground it's way into the tower. The bricks were simply ripped apart, smashed, and exploded as McKenzie demolished the tower, tearing a huge, gaping hole into the wall. Being only as tall as McKenzie's ankle, the wall was extremely insignificant.
"Ha! You call this a wall?" McKenzie mocked, "I mean, I guess I could just step over it but, where's the fun in that when stepping on it is much more fun?!"
McKenzie's other foot reached out to the side, crushing another archer-filled tower to the ground so she was now standing over the gated entrance to the village. Dragging her left foot over to her right foot, McKenzie bulldozed down the castle wall, obliterating the gate and the soldiers on and under the wall. Now the hole in the wall was enormous. McKenzie laughed and stepped into the now unguarded village.
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Villagers scrambled for cover as McKenzie trampled over the city. Wooden houses were crushed flat, stores and fruit stands in the marketplace shattered, horse-drawn carts and wagons crunched loudly. McKenzie heading straight through the city, her feet crushing houses or kicking right through them, sending tons of wooden debris flying through the air and crashing down far ahead of her.
In the street, a knight fought through the crowds in an attempt to stand up to the Titan. As the girl loomed directly overhead, her skirt billowing out as she stomped a nearby house, the knight hurled on last lance as hard as he could.
Unfortunately, like all the others, it bounced off her shoe. The knight looked up as the shoe lifted overhead, drowning him in shadow, then came rushing down to literally blacken his world. McKenzie walked on, leaving the knight flattened, his armor looking more like a crushed soda can.
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McKenzie looked down, watching and feeling houses and buildings collapse as her feet pressed down on top of them. She put her arms behind her back, humming as she walked along.
"This conquering thing is easy!" she said aloud, "I wish i had done this sooner."
In no time at all, McKenzie had reached the palace and was towering over the king's balcony. The last messenger had long since ran for his life in fear.The king's gaze looked so high up, his neck hurt. Behind McKenzie, a smoking, smashed trail of wreckage led from the gaping hole at the entrance all the way to where the girl now stood.
"Greetings your majesty!" McKenzie said, giving a slight curtsy, but demolishing even more of the town with her shifting feet, "I've left your army in shambles, your walls broken, and your village is ruins. And now it seems, it is your turn to be conquered."
McKenzie's right foot lifted high, slowly moving over the palace, casting a dark shadow over it all.
"Wait, wait, wait!" the king shouted, "Yes, you conquered us. We surrender to you. There's no reason to smash anything else."
"What?" McKenzie said, pausing, her foot hanging in midair, "No reason? What's the point of having big feet if I don't get to step on stuff?"
"But, you said you were conquering us." the king said, "What's the point if there's nothing left of us to rule over?"
"Rule over?" McKenzie said, surprised, "I think you misunderstand. Ruling stuff is boring. Destroying everything is fun! I never had plans to rule this place, just crush it all!"
"What?" the king was in disbelief, "B-but what about . . . ?"
"Bye bye sire!" McKenzie said, and her foot came crashing down.
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McKenzie's shoe smashed onto the top of the palace. The large building quaked as the roof split open around the sneaker. Flashes bathed the building in red light as her heel began to force it's way through the exterior wall. Inside, furniture, artifacts, and objects of various sizes and importance were demolished as the ceilings crashed down.
The balcony with the king was sheered off and smashed against the wall as the sneaker pushed down more. The right side of the palace was ripped open and pushed over as McKenzie's foot moved down and sideways. As it settled on the ground, McKenzie's other foot came up over the remaining section of the palace, and it sank into the roof of the palace, crashing through the floors, ripping apart walls, and shattering wooden support beams.
Two tall bell towers on the edge of the palace toppled over in a cascade of bricks and dust, the brass bells tumbling end over end and smashing into the rubble piles. Very little of the palace remained standing as McKenzie started walking all over the rubble pile, ensuring every last bit of the palace was squashed down flat. She jumped up and down, collapsing many of the surrounding buildings from the quakes alone. Finally, McKenzie placed her hands on her hips and looked around.
"Hmm, there's still a lot of this kingdom left standing." she said, noticing the town wrapped around the palace and only a small section had been crushed on her way to the king, "I guess I'll have to take care of the rest!"
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Back in her room, McKenzie moved back and forth across the diorama. It was trashed. Buildings and houses were demolished, the wall was crushed into a million pieces where the entrance had been, and small toy soldiers, knights, and horses lay in broken pieces.
The debris had gone all over the bedroom. Exploding houses sprayed pieces that hit the wall and door, there was broken mortar that had held the castle walls together under the bed and getting ground into the carpet. Houses that had been kicked flew into the air mostly intact then exploded high up against the walls.
McKenzie was jumping over and over from one section of diorama to another, smashing it over and over again, then gathering up big piles of debris to jump on again.
Finally, when there was absolutely nothing left that could break any more, McKenzie landed on top of her bed to catch her breath.
"Well, that was fun!" McKenzie said, "Too bad it's all over." She looked around the room and shuttered. "Oh dear, dad might be mad when he sees this. That was one expensive set he got me. I guess I had better get this cleaned up."
McKenzie got up off the bed and carefully went out to the hallway to fetch a broom and dustpan and went back to her room. Using the broom, McKenzie started from one end of the mess and swept up all kinds of rubble. Broken houses, figurines, wagons, even the mighty palace itself, were swept up into piles. The piles were then scooped up in the dustpan and McKenzie dumped it all into a garbage can.
On one last detail, McKenzie brought in the vacuum and gave her bedroom a good cleaning. The last bits of toy soldiers and houses was sucked up and the room finally looked clean again.
"Whew, that's always the hardest part of these conquers!" McKenzie said, "But it's worth it with the amount of fun that was."
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And with that, McKenzie skipped downstairs, took off her shoes, and plopped down in a chair with a bowl of ice cream to watch TV. It had certainly been a wonderful Saturday indeed!
