"Sometimes, in the fight against tyranny, we find friends in the most unlikely places." Aleena narrated.

"Dude, talk about the middle of nowhere! Couldn't we have just sent these guys a card?" Manic said.

"It may not look like much, but the nomads out here have been fighting Buttnik for years! Legend has it the tribe's chief Ifyoucan was captured by Buttnik, but escaped. The Resistance needs anyone who can get away from Buttnik!" Sonic said.

"But how can anyone live out here? There's no water, no shade, no air-conditioned malls, and you go through an awful lot of sun screen." Sonia said.

"Whoa, it is toasty! I'm havin' a meltdown!" Sonic said and and engine beeped and she gasped. "Hey!"

"So's the engine." Manic said.

"Uh, S-Sonia, uh, how much of that sun screen did you bring?"

"It's no good! I don't have the tools to fix it."

"Looks like we're walkin'."

"Great! A million square miles of beach, and no ocean. Show me the city! I can't stand all this wide open space! Show me the city!"

"Get over it, bro! Nobody said bein' in the Resistance was a walk in the park."

"Yeah, but it wasn't supposed to be a hike through the desert, either. What good could a bunch of nomads who live in a sandbox be to the Freedom Fighters?"

Sonia coughed and found a jewel.

"Oh, I don't know, it's not all bad. A girl could get used to this place." she said and a SWATbot shot the jewel. "Ahh!" she said and Sonic and Manic gasped. "Hey!" she said, saw the SWATbots and gasped.

"SWATbots! It's juice and jam time. Stand back!" Sonic said.

"Huh?"

"I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt." Sonic said and a SWATbot shot her down. "Whoa!" she said and Manic gasped.

"Sonic!"

"Wah!" Sonic said and muffled screaming while Manic strained and she coughed. "Is it just me, or are those SWATbots' aim getting better?"

"I think we're gonna find out!" Manic said and Nomads started warbling.

Sonic, Manic and Sonia gasped.

"Whoa, these guys are good!" Manic said.

"Fortunately for you, we came along. I am Ifyoucan, chieftain of the Azcan Tribe. These are my bodyguards: Amir and Jamal." Ifyoucan said.

"Hoho, like this guy needs bodyguards!

"Come! We must go quickly, before Robotnik sends another patrol."

"Uh, Ifyoucan? Think you could give us a hand with our van?" Sonic asked.

"Certainly!"

"I gotta hand it to you guys, this ride's pretty smooth, and the fuel mileage is rockin'!" Manic said.

"What brings you here to this dangerous desert?"

"We've heard that your tribe has no love for Robotnik." Sonic said.

"'Tis true. Robotnik and the SWATbots are our sworn enemies!"

"Well we're Freedom Fighters, and the Resistance needs your help against Robotnik."

"If you are truly an enemy of Robotnik, you must still prove yourself worthy to be an ally. One of you must join our tribe."

"Where do I sign up?"

"Somethin' about Ifyoucan gives me the creeps. I don't trust anybody who hides his face all the time." Manic said.

"Get your eyes checked, bro! Did you see how he blasted those bots?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog wishes to join our tribe."Ifyoucan said and Nomads was warbling. "But first, he must pass the initiation test!" he said and Sonic gulped.

"Test? Wait a Mobius minute there! Nobody said anything about a test!" she said and Sonia gasped.

"Oh, man…!" Manic said and Nomads gasped.

"To join the tribe, you must defeat... the Kar-lek!" Ifyoucan said.

"Why did I know you were gonna say that?" Sonic asked and sighed then Manic and Sonia gasped. "Back in a Sonic second!" she said and jumped into the pit to confront the Kar-lek. "Whoa! Now I know how a chili dog feels!" she said and a pincer tried to grab her. "Uh! Uh! Argh!"she said and Sonia gasped as the crowd cheered. "Hey, no biggie."

"Sonic the Hedgehog, you are now a member of the Azcan Tribe!" Ifyoucan said and Nomads was warbling and cheering.

"Thanks! I'm honored."

"Three cheers for Sonic!" Normad said. "Congratulations, Sonic!"

"I think this calls for a serious jam!"

["True Blue Friend"]

"I still don't trust Ifyoucan. First he hides he face, and then he didn't dance when we played!" Manic said.

"You worry too much, bro." Sonic said.

"Give it a rest, Manic! If I don't get a good night's sleep, my eyes will get puffy." Sonia said.

"You sleep if you want to, but I've got a chief to check out." Manic said and opened the flap of Ifyoucan's tent. "Okay Ifyoucan, let's see who you really are." he said, noticed Ifyoucan's robotic eye and gasped. "Roboticized! Oh, no! I've gotta warn-" he said but Jamal grabbed him, covered his mouth and he muffled shouting.

"Manic?" Sonic said.

"Manic?" Sonia said and Sonic returned from searching. "Any sign of him?"

"Not even a drumstick, and I've been all over camp! Manic said he was gonna check out Ifyoucan. Maybe we'd better talk to the chief." Sonic said and entered the tent. "Have you seen Manic? We've looked all over camp for him."

"I have not seen your brother. Perhaps he went for a walk and became lost." Ifyoucan said.

"We'd better go look for him." Sonic said.

"No. My people will search. The desert is much too dangerous for those who do not know its ways."

"I've got a bad feeling about this. Manic wouldn't just wander off - he hates the desert!"

"You're right! It's not like him. Maybe Manic was right. There may be more to Ifyoucan than appears!" Sonia said.

"Yeah, I think we'd better find out what he's hiding under that hood."

"You did WHAT?!" Ifyoucan asked and Sonic and Sonia gasped.

"We had no choice. We had to leave him in the desert." Jamal said.

"Without food or water?! Manic is the brother of a member of the tribe! Or did you forget that?"

"But he saw you, Ifyoucan! If he told the tribe your secret..."

"You would be an outcast!" Amir said.

"Time to face the music, Ifyoucan! Where's Manic?" Sonic said and Sonia gasped. "Roboticized! I don't get it! You're supposed to be Buttnik's enemy."

"Robotnik is my enemy. The roboticizing process malfunctioned. I have my free will, but Robotnik's machine left me... changed. Only Jamal and Amir know my secret. I fear the rest of the tribe would never accept or trust me if they knew the truth. Amir and Jamal were only trying to protect me. I am sorry for what they have done to your brother." Ifyoucan said.

"Hey, "sorry" doesn't chill the sauce, know what I mean? We've gotta get Manic back!"

"Amir and Jamal left him in the Sun Snare Drum."

"Sun Snare Drum? At least he'll feel right at home."

"No! It is the hottest part of the desert. He will not survive there for long! I will show you the way. We must go quickly!"

"I'm waitiiing!" [Ifyoucan kicks him in the head] "Argh! Watch your feet! You know I can do this myself."

"You would never find him alone. Besides, you are a member of the tribe; it is my duty."

"Take this! Sonic can't carry you and Manic both." Sonia said.

"We'd better hurry. The Sun Snare Drum is no place to linger!"

"No prob! Hurry's my middle name!" Sonic said and Ifyoucan started cry while Manic panted.

"Oh man, I've never seen so much nothin'! I'm too cool to be hot!" Manic said.

"Hedgehogs! Find a smashed SWATbot, and hedgehogs can't be far away." Sleet said and Dingo sniffed and growled.

"Look Sleet, tracks!" Dingo said and Sleet pushed him away. "Heh?"

"Look, tracks! They should lead us straight to Sonic."

"Er, that's what I said, Sleet."

"Quiet, Dingo, I've got hedgehogs to catch!"

"How much farther, chief?" Sonic asked.

"At this speed, not much!" Ifyoucan s aid.

"I had a bad feeling about this from the beginning..." Manic said and collapsed. "Ugh!" he said and a vulture landed and he threw sand at it. "Ah, beat it! Dude, nobody rang the dinner bell yet. So thirsty…" he said. "Lemonade!" he said, sat on mirage stool that disappeared and fell. "Oof! Huh? Not fair, dude! All I wanted was a glass of lemonade!"

"Those hedgehogs! I just knew it!" Sleet said.

"Gosh, Sleet! Can I look through those? Can I? Can I?" Dingo said.

"Maybe you'd like to be turned into a sand flea." Sleet said and Dingo gasped.

"No!"

"There's Sonia... but where is Sonic?"

"Sonia?! Oh, let me see!"

"Sonia! It's always "Sonia" this and "Sonia" that. Just get the SWATbots into position. Don't let anyone get out of that camp!"

"Gee Sleet, you got no sense of romance."

"Manic!" Sonic said and Manic groaned. "Are you all right?"

"Water…" Manic said.

"Drink this, Manic!" she said and he gulped, spluttered and recuperated.

"Mmmm, that's the wettest water I've ever tasted! Thanks, bro!"

"Think you can ride your hoverboard?"

"Does a SWATbot need oiling?" [he asked, got up and felt dizzy. "Whoa, maybe not."

"You'll have to try. We gotta haul haunch outta here!"

"Hey, don't you work for Robotnik?"

"He's on our side - always has been. He let me out here to save your sorry butt! Now unless you'd rather be sandblasted, let's haul!"

"Whoa, oh!" he said. "What, no reception committee?"

"Amir? Jamal? Where are my people?" Ifyoucan asked.

"I don't like the looks of this. Somethin's wrong!" Sonic said, found Sonia trussed up in the tent and gasped. "Sonia!" she said and Sonia muffled shouting while Nomads was straining and grunting. "What happened?" she asked and Sonia muffled speech "Huh?"

"It's a trap, Sonic! Sleet and Dingo-" Sonia started but was cut off.

"Did someone call? Give up, Sonic! I can't believe I bagged you this time!" Sleet said.

"No way, Sleet! Just watch my feet!" Sonic said.

"Huh?!"

"Argh!" Sleet and Dingo said.

"Where'd they go?" Dingo asked.

"Aw, shut up!" Sleet said.

"This way, hurry!" Ifyoucan said.

"Whoa!" Manic said.

"Huh?" Sonic said and nomads panicked. "All right! Time to juice 'em and reduce 'em." she said and Nomad started warbling.

"Hee-yah!" Sonia said, kicked a Swatbot down and it exploded. "Whoa!" she said and landed in a crate. "Oof! I guess Buttnik should've sandproofed ya."

"Take it easy, fellas! Can't we just talk this over?" Manic said and backed up to the Kar-lek's pit. "Uh-oh..." he said and avoided the Kar-lek's claws. "Whoa!" he said and the Kar-lek grabbed and ate the SWATbots. "Phew, that was close." he said and the Kar-lek wrapped a tentacle round him. "Hey! Great, guess I'm the dessert!" he said and tried to resist. "Argh!" he said strained and a gunshot set him free. "Whoa, oof!" he said and saw the bodyguards. "Huh?"

"See? I told you it was this way." Sleet said.

"Er... Sleet?!" Dingo said and Sleet gasped. "Maybe we should've stayed in the tent!" he said and Nomads were warbling and growling.

"Whoa! Ahhhhh!" Sleet and Dingo said.

"Thanks, Jamal! That oughta do it." Manic said.

"Sonic, we want to thank you and your siblings for your help. After yesterday, Robotnik should not trouble us for quite a while."Ifyoucan said.

"Hey, we couldn't have done it without ya." Sonic said.

"And I apologize for the way your brother was treated."

"Hey chill, Ifyoucan, no harm done." Manic said.

"No, I take responsibility. I no longer deserve to be chief. I have deceived you." Ifyoucan said and Nomads gasped. "By the tribe's law, I will go now to wander the desert as an outcast. You must elect a new chief. Sonic, as newest member of the tribe, you must cast the first vote."

"I choose... Ifyoucan!" Sonic said.

"Ifyoucan! Ifyoucan!" Amir and Jamal said.

"Ifyoucan! Ifyoucan! Ifyoucan!" Normads said.

"Ifyoucan! Ifyoucan! Ifyoucan!" Manic and Sonia said.

"But, my robot parts... They are…" Ifyoucan said.

"Hey, do you lead with your body or your mind? You're a great leader no matter what the package looks like!" Sonic said.

"YES!"

"Ifyoucan! Ifyoucan! Ifyoucan!" everyone said.

"Dingo, you are completely useless!" Sleet said.

"Phew! Sure wish we could find some shade, don't you, Sleet? Er... Sleet?" Dingo said.

"Shade... hmm... yes!"

"Uh-oh!" Dingo said and Sleet morphed him into a parasol. "Hey!"

"Ah, much better!"

"I'm gonna get a sunburn! Have you got any sunscreen, Sleet? Sleet?!"