Heated

Heated is the tenth episode of the third season of Sandguardians and the forty-second overall.

Plot
At the beach of DotCom, Legend attempts to sail away on a makeshift raft, which turns out to be a pallet, but the ocean's current takes him back to the beach.

Meanwhile, near DotCom's front gate, the Sandbox troops train while Mickey and Bartholomew oversee them. While Dax continues to train hard, running laps around the compound, the other skirmish troops are left exhausted. Ichabod and Gates demand a break but Mickey refuses, saying that they'll need a lot more training if they expect to survive another ONC attack. Nash then calls Mickey and Bart over to her, where the two quickly sense her concern. Mickey, as a result, gives the Reds and Blues a break.

Miller then asks Jason if the Guardians are always so strict. Jason replies that they are for the most part but the reason for it is due to them being hunted down by the ONC constantly. Because of this, Gates suggests that they remove themselves from the Guardian-ONC conflict completely by escaping on the Pelican, but Jason tries to talk him out of it. Claire attempts this as well but Gates makes up his mind. Ichabod then volunteers to go with Gates, explaining that they are not a part of the Guardians' fight.

Dax, tired from sprinting, soon joins the group. Suddenly, however, everyone's attention is directed towards Nash, Mickey, and Bart, who yell over the death of McGrath. Mickey and Bart allow Nash to have a moment to herself and return to the front gate. Dax and Jason try to console them but the two call off the training for the rest of the day and retreat inside the compound, defeated. Claire then asks Icky and Gates if they still plan on leaving, catching Dax's attention. Icky and Gates then explain their escape plan to Dax, but the latter becomes angry upon hearing it. When Gates and Icky proceed to leave Dax stops them and threatens them at gunpoint. He expresses his disappointment in Icky for acting like Legend and proceeds to run off.

As Jason and Icky pursue Dax, the latter runs towards Legend, who is walking back to DotCom. Dax yells at Legend for abandoning them but then quickly collapses over exhaustion. The other Blues rush to Dax's aid and discover that he's not breathing. Panicked, Jason yells for help while Icky and Legend watch over Dax.

Guardians

 * Mickey
 * Bartholomew
 * Nash
 * Jason
 * Dax
 * Miller
 * Claire

Red Team

 * Gates

Blue Team

 * Ichabod
 * Legend

Transcript

 * [[File:Sandguardians_Episode_42-_Survival_of_the_Fittest.pdf]] (Final "Heated" version)
 * [[File:Sandguardians_Episode_42-_No_Pain_In_Vain.pdf]]

Music

 * "Ibn Al-Noor" by Kevin MacLeod
 * "Faceoff" by Kevin MacLeod

Trivia

 * This episode's title is a reference to the rigorous training the Sandbox troops undergo and their heated arguments.
 * This episode was originally entitled "No Pain In Vain" and later "Survival of the Fittest", references to the Sandbox troops' training and Dax's collapse. The script for the former episode title contains certain differences from the latter/current version.
 * The last shot of the episode is inspired by the last shot of the Red vs. Blue: Season 12 episode "Fed vs. New."