Ten Steps From Immortality
[I]Place your trust into fate, and let the wind guide you [I]

It's 2020
We exist in a golden age of technology where fossil fuels are no longer used to drive our cars, and we no longer have to wait one minute for popcorn to pop. Magic has gone the way of the dinosaurs in this era. Most of the spells and incantations have long since been forgotten. Most magical objects have either been lost to time or destroyed. People have even forgotten about magic and now dismiss it as a cheap trick of light or eye. The last remnants of magic now remain in the mysterious Sakura cards that are now in the possession of the very powerful Daidouji family, a family owned toy-manufacturing company that is trying to discover the true magic of the Sakura cards. The company while trying to harness the card’s power for new and wonderful things, one day something accidentally releases some of the cards, which slowly begin to wreck havoc on Tokyo. Tomoyo in a effort to get the cards collected again before people find out that her family’s company is behind the events, has the rest of the cards return to their original Clow Card form and seals a few away to be given to people she believes that have the ability to recapture the cards.

That is where you come in, it’s the end of summer and everyone is gearing up to go back to school. Meanwhile unexplained things begin to happen all around the city. One day you get a package from the Daidouji family saying that you have won a chance to try a new product of theirs. Inside you find one Clow Card and a small key that can be enlarged into a staff. The instructions say that other magical creatures and objects are hidden over Tokyo, it’s up to you to help capture them and seal them away into cards. The cards have changed though, the magic in them now feeds on their new masters thoughts and emotions, slowly changing your body to fit your actions if they are good or evil.

Meanwhile a shadowy woman who allowed the Sakura Cards to escape now watches with one of the cards she stole and plans to capture them for herself. Her plans for the cards and how she was able to use magic to cause them to be released remains a mystery to everyone but her.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

For a list of the sign ups, and cards, here is a link to the sign up topic. Sign Up Topic


Virtual Play has placed a list on his website to help anyone or for a quick check over, the list is here

My Sign Up.

Name: Marufuji, Shouta [Last name, First name]
Age: 13
Sex: Male
Description: He has fairly light skin with hazel eyes and messy black hair that he never keeps combed, he has a short round mark on his forehead that he got from chicken pox. He’s somewhat short for his age only about five foot three inches. He wears a gray jacket that he never buttons up with a red shirt underneath. He keeps the staff key on a small golden chain around his neck. He wears long baggy blue jeans that look somewhat like the Jinkos that went out of style around eight years ago.
Personality: He’s very shy about his height and it’s a very touchy situation for him. He is extremely shy around girls and usually locks up when one is talking to him. Yet in turn he’s very adventurous due to all the video games he has played in his life. Most of the time he can remain silent but he is known for outbursts and a bit of reckless enthusiasm.
Battle Costume Description: None
Angelic or Demon Description: His skin somewhat glows in the dark now, his eyes change to a more silverish color, and if the light hits the area above his head just right, it looks as if he has a halo.
Staff: In locket version it looks like nothing more than a very short keyish version of the full staff. It has a tiny white pole connected to a bit larger black circle with a grayish orb in the middle of it. The full version has about a four foot long white pole, connected to a round black circle that is about a foot tall. Inside of the circle is about a 11 inch tall orb that contains swirling gray gas that spins and moves faster when it activates a card.
Starter Card: Shadow {D}
Capture Cards: Silent {D}, Sleep{A}, Snow {A}
Capture/Release Yell None
Other: He really likes Snow.

Daidouji Tomoyo

[I]“I don’t like this,” Tomoyo whispered, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. The lab coat made her feel constricted and confined, the sterilized feel of the lab at her family’s company never made her feel comfortable. She belonged out designing clothes or editing film for new commercials, or if she had any spare time, editing video of Sakura-chan’s* old adventures. Even seeing the old pink Sakura cards laying on the lab table behind the thick protection glass brought back old memories of boundless adventures, where every day could lead to another Clow Card or adventure.

“It will just be another few minutes Daidouji-sama,” a lab tech whispered, almost afraid that the voice would disrupt the finely tuned lasers that washed over each card. Lasers that were scanning each one to detect their magical power in a way to activate and harness that power for a possible city wide virtual reality program. Or even more wonderful things that they could not even begin to imagine now.

Tomoyo nodded flashing a smile while trying to look interested; she wouldn’t act rude or disinterested to a scientist that had spent the last three years studying Sakura-chan’s cards. Even when Sakura-chan had approached her a few years back to see if she could use any of the cards to help the keep the company from falling into bankruptcy, she had felt guilty. It was even worse when she finally broke down and accepted her friend’s offer. Now all of those years and Sakura-chan’s generosity was finally going to be paid off.

"Yeah, Okaasan said that her cards were always willing to help a friend in need," Kohana-chan said when she had brought Sakura-chan daughter aboard for the project; she knew that Sakura-chan did not feel as if she owed her something, but it was the least she could do. Smiling up at her Kohana’s eyes scanned the monitors. Tomoyo looked at Kohana-chan and couldn't help but see her own best friend in the eyes of Sakura-chan's daughter. "Everything will be fine, Daidouji-san." Kohana-chan said reassuringly when she realized all of the stress and worry that was surrounding Tomoyo.

“You're right, Kohana-chan, and I’m sure everyone here is doing their best,” Tomoyo smiled, glancing away from the cards. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a wisp of smoke trail away from the room where the cards were held. “Something..” She gasped her eyes searching the room for more of the mysterious smoke.

She wasn’t able to finish the sentence before a shudder rocked both room throwing lasers off balance and sending beams of light made of variety of colors flying around the room. Security alarms began to ring as one by one each card began to glow, turning from a faint pinkish color to a white beam of light. Each beam of light took off from the table and flew through the nearest wall. Screams were heard in the halls around the lab as the beams of light searched for an exit before finally finding one and escaping into the outside world. “Stop the beams, shut them off, shut them all off!” Another scientist yelled pushing Tomoyo away from the window as he and others began to work over the keyboards in the room.

Tomoyo sat down; the weight of the events began to weigh on her shoulders as if the whole building had collapsed onto her. What would she tell Sakura-chan? How could she possibly get the cards back to her friend? The beams of light that left the room began to trickle down until finally they stopped, only a handful of cards were left: The Elements, Dark and Light, and a few others. Sakura-chan could not be expected to go after the cards again; she had a family of her own. She would have to call her, tell her about what had just happened, and find a way to capture the cards.

Picking up the cordless telephone she dialed in Sakura-chan’s number. Her hand was shaking so much that she had to have both hands hold the phone up to her ear. “Tomoyo-chan? Is everything okay?” Sakura’s soft comforting voice filled the speaker of the phone. Her voice was filled with such happiness and warmth.

“Sakura-chan, something awful has happened” Tomoyo whispered, her voice cracking as tears filled her eyes and she broke down in sobs.

-chan: honorific, usually between girls, indicating a close relationship (also used to call something or someone cute)
-sama: honorific, used towards anyone who is in a higher power than the speaker
Okaasan: mom/mother

Marufuji Shouta

“SHOUTA, WAKE UP” Okaasan yelled pounding on my door a few times before opening it up, spilling the light of day into my room. “It’s almost noon, get up” She sighed tossing a box onto my bed and left. Due to some various rolling method that seemed to define the laws of gravity, I had gotten myself curled up in my sheets.

“The postman brought that for you, now get up” She sighed slamming the door shut, I contemplated at that moment to just close my eyes and go back to sleep. I knew sleep wouldn’t come, that her leaving the room was just to lure me into a false sense of security that I could wake up. Another knock came on the door, this time louder. “Wake up” She yelled again. I accepted defeat and got up scrounging around for my shorts and untangled my sheets.

I pulled the small box that was lying at my feet over and opened up the side tape of it with my house key. “Daidouji Toy Company? What is this?” I asked, when an answer didn’t come I opened up the sides of the brown box and pulled out some packing popcorn and a piece of paper. Along with what looked like a small metal charm and a tarot card. The paper read that I had won the chance to try a new product of theirs, some kind of citywide virtual reality device included were the instructions to activate the key which some how worked with the tarot card.

I had sent in a product testers card to the Daidouji Company when I was like eight years old. I never expected that I would actually be chosen to be one. The Shadow? The tarot card had an orange lining followed by a white lining and then some kind of monster in it. Maybe all of those reports of strange things happening around town were actually this virtual reality game. I stood up grabbing the charm and the piece of paper, following the instructions I held it in my hand and closed my eyes, concentrating on the charm. “I call upon the staff, Release” I commanded, suddenly something broke to my left, I opened my eyes and found myself gripping a long white staff with a black round holder at the top with a orb in the holder.

“Ah damn” I swore, the staff had ripped a hole into my TV, I ripped the staff out and took a good look at my now destroyed TV. “Return, shrink, GET SMALLER” I yelled at the staff finally causing it to shrink back into its smaller form.

“Shouta is everything okay in there?” Okaasan asked returning to the door.

“Just fine, don’t come in, I’m er.. Naked” I said quickly grabbing some blue jeans from my closet along with my shirt and jacket. The key must have been made by some kind of voice activated metal. The paper said that in staff form, it could activate the card, which I had no idea what that meant. “I’m going out,” I yelled out while slipping out my window and onto the soft grass below. Okaasan would kill me when she found out about the TV.

Right now that didn’t matter, I needed to go to the mall to get a chain for the now smaller staff. In fact the mall was all that seemed to occupy my mind, it was like I needed to go there, that something big was happening there. The mall would be packed with back to school shoppers yet it seemed as if I had to go there. I shook my head clear of the fog that had surrounded my brain and gladly gave in to the feeling, and at no time at all I was walking in the glass doors to the two-story mall.

Inside was more than the usual confusion and craziness that was associated with back to school shopping, many people were asleep on the benches and slumped over chairs in the food court. While others were running around in mass states of confusion as weird and unexplainable things were happening around them. I began to back up in fear pressing my body against the glass door. Was this really a virtual reality program or something a little more real, a little more deadly? My hand went to the small charm in my pocket that could be turned into a staff.

If I didn’t do something maybe no one will, or worse this could be some kind of joke on me, and if I didn’t do something I would look like an idiot. I slowly brought the charm out into my hand. Either way I had to do something, I couldn’t go home, I had to do something, I felt as if I must do something. I grasped the key in my hand and concentrated. “I call upon the staff, Release”

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~


Basically you wake up, or already awake when the package arrives, you open it up and get your first card and charm/staff. You feel an urge that you must go to the mall, when you reach there you find it in all different states of chaos. The mall holds all of our first captures, so one monster for each of us a total of ten monsters are in that place. I’ll post next after most of the people reach the mall and start the first capture.

Edit: I would rather not have anyone make their first capture unless they will be busy this week/up coming weekend. Try to wait to have it fully in your next post if at all possible.