Time to Kill Written by Joey!

 

(First of all, Yoshi is © Nintendo, Joey and almost all related characters in this story are © Joey, and Yoshata is © Yoshata.)

 

-Foreword

 

            Well, here you are, at the beginning of my first “epic” story…or, as I might put it, a story that took me over a year to write and that’ll probably take you around forty-five minutes to read.  Nevertheless, it was an awesome experience writing it—the inspiration around beginning it, the tons of encouragement I got when I started slacking off in the middle, and my growing ability as a writer as I worked on the last few chapters.  I hope to continue writing again soon, once some other important things are out of the way; obviously, the more I do this, the better I get at it.  In fact, you’ll probably find that evident when you read the story from beginning to end—the early chapters are pretty short, with less actual style, while the later chapters get pretty lengthy and more descriptive.  I’ve tried to make as many corrections as I could to the early chapters…of course, if I tried to correct everything wrong with them, then this story would never be finished.  So, now that you’ve patiently endured my self-criticisms, it’s time to move on to a short overview of the story.

            This story, entitled Time to Kill, got its name from at least two things: one would be the phrase “time to kill,” meaning time to spare; the other is a section from the Bible that’s based upon the main phrase, “There is a time for everything.” (You’ll read more on that later on in the book.) Furthermore, the story is about time travel; the story contains a few scenes that take place in the year 2003 (remember, reader, that this took me over a year to write), although much of it is set in a future time.

            There are four important characters in this story: three protagonists and one antagonist.  Two of these four are from the future; the other two are native to the present.  Remember that this is my first big writing experience, so don’t expect anything big for their descriptions.  And now that that’s said, here are the main characters:

 

            Joey has an extremely pivotal role in the story—you’ll figure out why when you get to actually reading the story—because of his important future.  At the point he hears of this, of course, it’s hard for him to believe it; Joey is a very easy-going, simple-minded kid who has a strange obsession with eating donuts.  Although he can be smart if he really tries, he usually chooses to stick with being more simple-minded and kind; he’ll turn on the “smart” switch at school, in other words.

 

            Yoshata is one of my best friends outside the story; this is barely different in the story.  With generally better social skills than Joey, Yoshata is kind, talkative, and attentive.  Of course, she also knows to speak her mind and stand up for what she believes in.  Basically, she can act accordingly in just about any situation with many types of people while still being herself.

            In addition to her good personality, Yoshata has numerous special powers.  When she was young, these powers were given to her through a magical fruit from her parents. (It’s an interesting story, but one that’s beyond this small introduction.) Her powers are themed by elements in nature: fire, water, thunder, ice…it’s quite a long list, with more than what’s listed.  You’ll see more of Yoshata’s powers in the story as it goes on.

            Since I wrote the story, Yoshata’s actions, reactions, words, and thoughts will probably be somewhat inaccurate…she helped me as much as she could as I wrote the story.

 

            Tiffany, the third protagonist, is closely linked to Joey in the story.  When she appears in his time, however, she’s actually a year or so older than he is, and maybe five or so years more mature.  She takes her job seriously, doing things as quickly and as effectively as possible.  This is one of the reasons why her meeting with Joey and Yoshata is rushed in the story’s beginning.  She gets off to a bad start with the two, not viewing either of them as a friend and viewing Joey as an annoying, immature hindrance.  It takes a while before she begins to enjoy their company and become their friend.  This may be because Tiffany had few to no friends before she met Joey and Yoshata.

            Tiffany is sometimes hard to understand.  Most of times, she’s serious and to-the-point.  At other times, however, she’s open and kind.  At other times still, she can be harsh and unkind.  Her mood can sway somewhat easily depending on the situation she’s in, which is one of her weak points.

            It’s hard to tell whether Tiffany is really the main character.  Reasons that this may be so include the fact that Yoshata serves mainly as a friend and protector to Joey and Tiffany and the fact that Joey is missing from the story for an entire chapter.  Tiffany also faces many of the struggles in the story, as well.  So while Joey may be an important factor in the story, Tiffany is probably the actual main character.

 

            Olivia is the enemy of the three characters.  Her goal, in short, is to kill Joey; her philosophy, in short, is that killing Joey will make the universe a much safer place.  She’s not crazy, but she doesn’t know—and will not believe—that her philosophy has error.  She is an important member of a group of anti-time-travel extremists from the future, and when no one else would, she went beyond simple protest.

            Throughout the story, Olivia causes the others problems, and they do the same to her.  She keeps them running from her for a long time, which actually moves the story from place to place.  More is understood about Olivia as Joey, Tiffany, and Yoshata keep running from her and running into her.  Of course, the struggle between the two groups increases in time, as well.

 

            Time to Kill is a science fiction story, placed in a setting and moving with a plot that both have a background based upon an undeveloped scientific concept.  It’s also a fan fiction story, designed to be read by willing fans everywhere.  As you probably already know, this is a Yoshi fan fiction story—and if you don’t know about Yoshi, stop reading this now, go to a Yoshi website now, and learn, now!—however, you may be wondering why I used Yoshies in this story rather than human characters.  I believe that human characters could’ve matched well with the characters in the story; however, I have a few reasons for making the characters Yoshies:

            First, Yoshies are one of my greatest interests, and my online identity is the same Yoshi as the one in the story.

            Second, the fan fiction was originally designed as a Yoshi fan fiction.

            Third, I find writing about humans boring—it comes too close to historical fiction, which I usually hate.

 

            Everything begins with Joey and Yoshata, two great friends, walking down a familiar road to their own houses and talking about a very unfamiliar topic.  They have no idea that an extremely important thing is to happen soon.  They have no idea who Tiffany is, and they have no idea who Olivia is.  They have no idea that what is about to happen could possibly kill them.  They have no idea that what is about to happen will change their lives.

            But there is a time for everything.  And now, reader, it’s time to begin.

 

~Joey