Special Thanks to Gelatinos for the idea. Have a good one.
Door's were kicked and a tall egg shaped man walked down the hallways towards the desk of a tanuki who watched curiously, with a smile and friendly tone he announced "DodonPa, my good friend how are you doing ?" He reached close to him and held out his hand for a friendly shake. Dodon Pa just stared at him and said.
"May i ask, what are you doing here chubby human ?" Eggman leaned back and laughed.
"My friend, I just had an idea that could be of best benefit for the both of us" The tanuki lifted a brow, the idea of calling security on him and sending him off was on his mind but the benefit part caught his attention.
"Go on" The man cleared his throat, pressed a button and from the end of the hallway a robot carrying a projector stepped forward to them, turning to the left and displaying a image of an island on the wall
"You see, i was just struck by this great idea while watching my favorite reality show Water People. We invite Sonic and his friends, along with a few more folks. And I just so happened to lift an island into the skies.
Make them go trough dangerous and entertaining challenges, record the whole thing, transmit it over live television, make millions off of revenue and merchandising, while you advertise the whole thing"
"Why did you lift an island to the skies ?" Dodon Pa asked.
"Boredom"
The man placed a hand on his shoulder "Picture this DodonPa Motors amazing reality show starring the hero Sonic and his friends, facing dangerous challenges. Imagine all the people rushing to buy the merchandising and a spanking new high quality car from you"
Surprisingly he liked the idea, but as good as it sounded he knew the man before him was a smelly fish so to say. "Then what would you provide to me in order for this 'show' to happen ?"
Eggman grinned and clapped his hands as another robot rushed towards him carrying a brand new state of the arc engine, along with more high tech gadgets, "I'll give you the schematics for these beauties free of charge, you just advertise me and watch the fireworks. I'll even let you be my co-host"
He took a good look at the engines and tech, none of his scientists and engineers barely came close to such technical marvel "Sounds good, but you'll be my co-host and you give me control over any machinations within the island Eggman laughed and tapped his shoulder.
"Great choice, we'll make history i tell you" The walked off out of the room, to begin concocting this espcatacle.
6 Months later
Sonic impatiently threw a ball against a wall watching it bounce gainst wall then the floor, before returning to his hand, he once again threw the ball again "How long till you're done with the tornado there ?" Tails stopped welding the torn metal and looked over to him, lifting the metallic mask up he said.
"It'll take a while, she was hit pretty bad you know" Sonic snickered lightly before grabbing the ball and throwing it again.
"You call her a she" Tails pouted and said.
"Why haven't you zoomed off today ? Tired ?" Sonic shrugged and said.
"Ames is doing some shopping, Tangle and Whisper are doing something and Knuckles is sitting on angel island, and i'm kinda hungry for a chili dog" Tails chuckled and said.
"You keep eating that many of those and you end up like Eggman" Sonic let out a sarcastic laugh, but before he could answer, a window broke, on the floor next to Tails, laid a brick with the words 'PLAY ME' and behind the brick a CD.
Walking up the stairs, Sonic sat on the couch and Tails slid in the CD.
"What in the ?" Both Sonic and Tails said out in surprise.
"Thank you so much for the help Vanilla" Amy said, she sniffed in the sweet smell of tea before taking a sip herself "Only i can forget my credit card at the check out, i'll pay you back as soon as i get home Ok" The older rabbit laughed a bit before saying.
"Don't you worry about it dear, consider it a gift for taking care of Cream for me while i'm working" The smaller rabbit nodded, agreeing with every word before saying.
"You deserve it Amy" Amy chuckled a bit and said.
"Alright fine, how about i make you something tasty as a thank you" The doorbell rang. Vanilla stood up from her seat.
"Excuse me" After a few seconds she returned with a CD player, with the words PLAY ME in black marker "Someone just left this at my doorstep, strange" She settled the player on the table.
Amy curiously pressed the play button.
CUT
A red echidna sat up from the stone floor rubbing his head and groaned "Ow, what happened ?" A peach echidna rushed beside him, looking down on him with a look of worry plastered on her face. "You are finally awake Guardian Knuckles, are you injured ?"
"No, i'm ok my head just hurts a bit...Wait a minute, what are you doing out of the emerald Tikal ?" She fiddled with her fingers a bit before saying.
"Well you see, sadly the master emerald was once again stolen and I was tired of sitting idly without doing anything, so I got out and saw you unconscious on the floor. I didn't have a good look at the thief sadly" Knuckles stood up immediately and before acting out in anger he took a deep breath and said.
"I think i know who stole it, come on" He said as he led her out of the island.
CUT
"And that is all the time we have for folks, tune in next week to find out who Ashely chooses to be her second in command on the next episode of, Love Boat is it going to be Aster or will it be Duncan" The TV was turned off a black hedgehog groaned.
"This is what you had in mind on vacation ? Sit down and watch trash Reality Shows ?"
"Better than your idea to go fishing" Rouge smugly said as she took the remote from his hands, as she resumed to flip through channels "And besides all of my favorite spots are closed today so this is the only thing i can do"
"My suggestion to go to storm Eggman's base still stands" The robot suggested from the other side of the couch.
"Eggman has been awfully quiet this past month hasn't he ?" Shadow asked them.
"Yeah, last time he has been like that he almost destroyed the world" Shadow nodded. A door was kicked open and a echidna furiously shouted with a peach echidna following behind him apologizing.
"Alright batgirl, where's the Master Emerald ?" Rouge looked over from the couch before saying.
"Hey Knuckie how are you ?"
"Quit the chit chat, where is the Master Emerald ?" Knuckles said, lifting up his fist.
" I haven't got out of this couch yet you know, why is it when you come see me it's alway about that stupid rock ? I'm innocent this time around.
"You expect me to believe that, yesterday you said that you couldn't take your eyes off the best treasure on this island" Rouge groaned and stood up from her seat.
"You are way denser than I remember Knuckie , I haven't stolen your rock" Rouge looked over his shoulder to see a peach echidna behind him.
"Yeah right" Knuckles assumed a fighting stance and so did Rouge.
"Remain calm Guardian Knuckles perhaps she is telling the truth, you don't need to fight" Shadow walked beside her and said.
"Don't bother, it's usually how they sort things out" Tikal lifted a brow and said
"But they don't need to fight about it, can't we solve this with a conversation?"
"At this point is just adding more fuel to the fire"
Before Knuckles and Rouge could begin, Omega lifted a CD player and shouted "All of you be quiet, i have received a CD Player" All of their glances instantly shifted to the robot.
Watching the footage, Rouge's eye shined with a gleam while Knuckles gripped the screen.
A blade pierced a can, spinning around the lid and lifting it with the blade, revealing a brown-ish paste, steam flew out of it, a bee covered his nose and stuck his tongue out.
"Dinner's served boys, eat it before it gets cold" Vector said as he gave them plastic spoons. A purple chameleon grimaced at their 'meal' that sat atop a portable stove and asked.
"Boss, i know we are a short or funds but, couldn't we have gotten instant ramen istead" The stench of the can almost made him throw up "this is deplorable"
"You may not like it but it's worth better than staying without water or electricity. And besides it was on discount" He scooped out some of it and said "This is good, watch" As soon as he placed the 'food' in his mouth he instantly wanted to spit it out, but his pride made him swallow it "Hmm, tasty, the best baked beans i've ever ate"
Espio picked the can before throwing it out in the trash, Vector letter out a defeated sign and said "At least it will keep the rats from starving"
"If they hadn't starved out yet" Charmy added. Espio walked to the door and said.
"I'll get us some instant ramen" Walking out he saw a CD player sitting on their welcome mat, he brought it inside "Someone left this on our front door" He read the words out loud 'PLAY ME' He sat down and played the disc.
"Let me see if i got this right," Silver said as he placed the history book down "The pirates started to appear after the wood tax right ?" Silver looked at the cat standing beside him.
"Not right, but at the same time not wrong" She pointed to a sentence in the book "The pirates are more of a side effect after the tax, due to most of the workers not being able to work"
"Ooh, that makes sense, and why did that tax exist ?" Before blaze could answer Gardon opened the door on the library, carrying a CD player.
"Your highness, sorry to interrupt you but we have recently received a message addressed to you, he showed Blaze the CD player, the purple cat placed it on the table, she read the message on it and played it.
A sound sleep, hanging back on his chair, legs sprawled out on the table, high up in the sky, there was no other place he would rather be right now. But nothing lasts forever, a grey albatross barged in the room.
"BOSS!" Scared out of his sleep Jet almost fell hard on the floor, he shook his fist angrily and told Storm.
"Don't you know how to knock you big buffoon?" Wave walked inside the room, Storm showed him the CD player.
"Sorry boss, someone left this thing on the deck and it looks important" Wave walked over to him and took the CD player, she shrugged before sitting it down on the table and playing the message
The sound of something being dropped echoed throughout the stone, piercing green eyes noticed the object, a shadowy being grabbed the object before bringing it back to its master "Interesting" He muttered before playing the message
Aa lemur walked over to her friend sitting on a bench holding two glasses of juice, before offering she asked"How did it break anyway ? It never broke before" she said to her friend, Whisper took the glass, she took a sip, tightened up screws on her weapon, she just shrugged and said.
"It overheated" She whispered while tightening some screws. The sound of something flying came to their direction, a drone carrying a small grey box. He stopped in front of them, landing on the ground, releasing the box and flying away.
Tangle took the box, which looked like a CD player, she sat down besides Whisper and played the disc.
After some static and image of a fat man wearing a suit and beside him a tanuki on a stage, filled with shine and glow. Eggman smiled from ear to ear before announcing
"CONGRATULATIONS, you have just been invited to the Isle of Egg" An image of Eggman and Dodonpa lying down sunbathing both sunbathing holding an ice cold drinks "Enjoy 3 moths of all expenses paid on a tropical paradise high up in the skies, experience breathtaking beaches" An image of them in the woods near a gorgeous waterfall " explore the brimming flora, all of it being recorded live 24/7. And the best of all" The image returned to Eggman and besides him Metal Sonic with a red metallic bowtie.
The robot pulled a rope hanging from the ceiling, purple curtains were lifted revealing a treasure trove of gold, gems, jewels and baubles. " A chance to take this home along with" The camera panned to the side revealing the 7 chaos emeralds and the Master Emerald.
"Interested? then be in Station Square nearby the emerald coast, tonight at 9:30 pm. To participate in the Isle of Defiance, sponsored by Dodon Pa Motors" Dodon Pa announced.
Both of them lifted their arms up, bowed and said "We hope to see you there".
"Sounds like Fun" Sonic said excitedly.
"Sounds like a trap" Tails reasoned
"Can i go mother ?" Cream asked.
"I'm not sure dear" Vanilla replied.
"Don't worry i'll keep an eye on her" Amy assured Her.
"My emerald !" Knuckles and Rouge said at the same time.
"We're going to an island, boys" Vector said as he dragged Espio and Charmy out to their pickup truck.
"I don't know, what if it's a trap ?" Blaze reasoned with Silver.
"Come on, Blaze you've been working around the clock as queen you deserve a break"
"Easy money and a chance to relax in topstyle, my treat" Jet adjusted the course of the ship to station square.
"I am interested"
"I don't know..." Whisper said but Tangle reassured her.
"Come on, it's gonna be fun" She walked out of her house, Whisper signed and followed her.
Station Square, 9:20 PM
Sonic placed his backpack on the ground and whistled as he saw a sizable plane, bigger than the tornado. "Sonic are you sure about this, it is bound to be a trap" Sonic nodded and answered.
"I know but hey we can't be the only ones invited and besides, if we win this we get to take the emeralds, keep them safe and away from Eggman" He punched his shoulder slightly in a friendly manner. "And come on it's gonna be fun" Tails signed and smiled.
"Alright, but stay sharp this is Eggman we're dealing with" They heard a car parking, out of it came Cream, Vanilla and Amy.
The pink hedgehog waved at them and ran to Sonic, giving him a warm hug "Hey Ames" Sonic said awkwardly, not complaining about the hug. She let go of him greeting both him and tails, Cream walked besides him and asked.
"You received an invitation like us ?" Sonic nodded and patted her head.
"Yep, too bad for our window though" Amy tilted her head and asked.
"Window ?"
"ALRIGHT WHERE'S EGGMAN" Knuckles shouted as he stomped down the streets, with Tikal trying her best to calm him down.
"Take a chill pill Knucklehead, Eggman's not even here. And besides I doubt that he'll have it with his person" Rouge told him, Knuckles stopped for a few seconds and scratched his head as he processed the information.
"Alright, maybe that makes sense" Tikal looked over and noticed a blue hedgehog waving at him.
Sonic wave back "Long time no see Tikal, how have you been" She nodded and answered.
"I am doing very well, I assume you have received an invitation as well" All of them nodded, Knuckles and Rouge greeted Sonic, he asked.
"Hey where's Shadow ?"
"They are just taking my luggage, they should be here any minute now" Around the corner Shadow and Omega walked out, carrying several bags of luggage.
They stopped beside Rouge, Shadow placed the luggage on the ground while Omega kept carrying his "Faker"
"Shadow, hey Omega"
"Hello, Sonic the Hedgehog"
In a short time the place started to get more and more crowded, first came Tangle and Whisper, the wolf being brought more likely to keep an eye on her friend. Then Silver and Blaze, followed by the Babylon Rogues and at last the chaotix.
"Shouldn't we be going to the coast by now, it's almost time".
"Oh yeah, almost lost track of time" Sonic looked at Shadow and said.
"Race you there" Sonic then zoomed off, followed by Shadow saying.
"Be ready to lose"
"They don't change do they ?" Amy said as she grabbed her bag. Rouge shrugged and said.
"Same old, same old" Rouge said, Omega grabbed the luggage Shadow left and all of them followed.
The moon reflecting over the beach, the gentle ocean breeze, carrying small bits of sand, behind them, the hotel. Docked on the beach a sleek white and red airplane, on its side the logo of dodonPa motors.
The Tanuki aboard his flying machine warmly greeted them "Hello my friends, my name is Dodon Pa. I hope all of you are ready to embark to Egg Isle. I bet all of you are excited as I am to embark but before we board the plane, i need all the participants to sign this contract" With a press of a button smaller robots carrying contracts flew towards each participant.
Tails took a closer look at it reading the lines out loud "We of the DodonPa Motors™, do not take responsibility for injuries of any kind (Bone fractures, internal and external bleeding etc) psychological damage or death ?" Tails then whispered to Sonic.
"This sounds really fishy" Sonic hadn't liked the terms either but told him.
"Better us having a chance to get the emerald than he right ?" Tails reluctantly signed it.
Vanilla was reluctant about it as well, she called over Dodon Pa and asked him.
"Excuse me Mr Dodon Pa, i am worried about sending my child to this island, would it be ok if i sent her robot caretaker to look after her ?" He thought about it for a few seconds and answered.
"I don't see any problem, but they are going to count as one participant" Vanilla nodded and looked over to Cream.
"Sounds good to you dear" Cream and Cheese nodded happily, Vanilla then pulled out her cellphone.
"I'll give Gemerl a call, stay close to dear" With all the contracts returning to the Tanuki, he read each and everyone of them before clearing his throat and saying.
"looks like we are set, my friends, oh my looks like we are missing someone ?" All of them looked at each other confused, conspiracy of who was the missing participant, sounded throughout, until Shadow noticed some purple smoke materializing itself.
" Sonic, Silver get ready" They recognized that smoke, the smoke fell down on the sand, from a black puddle a figure emerged from it, a dark shape, forming itself into the shape of Shadow, they glanced at each other, almost everyone prepared for a fight.
"I am sorry for making all of you wait, i got side tracked. Are we ready to go on board ?" Shadow approached him and pointed a finger.
"What are you doing here ? Haven't you learned your lesson from last time ?"
"Oh, i have learned from it, but now i have no intent to fight you, i am merely here for this" He glanced at all the participants "Competition. You don't need to worry about me, i will be on my best behaviour" They stared at each other for a while longer before Dodon Pa interrupted them "Now now, save those sparks for the cameras my friends"
Gemerl had already, with his orders received he stood close to Cream, Dodon Pa clapped his hands and gestured over to the AirPlane.
"Marvelous, now come my friends let us go to your brand new home away from home" More Egg Pawns carrying cameras made sure to film them.
"This is so exciting" Amy squealed.
"Be careful my dear, I'll be cheering for all of you" Vanilla told all of them after giving Cream a warm hug.
"Ladies and Gentlemen this is your Captain Orbot speaking, we are currently in the pacific the estimated time of arrival to Egg Isle is 08:00 PM. In case of an emergency you will just have to fasten your seatbelt and pray to whatever deity you believe, oh and some breathing masks should fall.
Oh and before i forget, Dodon Pa has asked each of you to enter the bathroom at the end of the corridor and make a short video introducing yourself to the viewers. Thank you for flying with Dodon Pa Motors and enjoy your flight"