Change is in the air. 2016 is here, and Heath's actually gotten on TV a couple of times in the last couple of months- even got an interview on the website! The only thing bad in his world, really, is the fact that Alicia Fox is still missing, which makes the Digidestined as a whole tense and uncomfortable... and that Wade is still suffering from neck issues.
Shaking these thoughts from his head, he glances down at Lopmon and grins as they walk along, the others scattered around. He feels more secure, there being four of them in a group now... Something that Dean Ambrose had pushed, a good idea, surprisingly enough. He checks his digivice, realizing that they're close to the spot on the map reflecting that there's a problem. "Hey, guys, we're almost-" His voice dies away. He scrabbles at something tight around his throat, cutting off his air supply.
He chokes and struggles harder, Lopmon's eyes widening in horror as he realizes what's wrong, turning sharply. "Palmon!" he cries out, spotting Alicia's partner not far away, Alicia herself standing nearby with her arms crossed over her chest. "Let him go!"
"Afraid I can't do that," she says smoothly. "His voice was annoying me." Palmon lifts Heath, her grip surprisingly steady as she dangles him a few inches off of the ground. Just enough to hang him.
"His voice annoys all of us," Miz says, stepping forward carefully. "But we don't want him to die. Come on, Alicia, tell Palmon to let him go."
She smirks, watching as Heath's face goes from pale to bright red. Finally Monodramon approaches Palmon and Mike motions to Wade, who steps forward and grips Heath by the legs while the digimon are distracted, trying to support him and take off some of the pressure from his throat. "That won't work, you know," she says, even as Palmon dives to evade Monodramon's swipe, only succeeding in pulling her vines tighter around Heath's throat.
Everyone freezes as Heath struggles and makes weak noises, his eyes bulging out at the added pressure. "Dammit!" Wade yells, still trying to brace him. "Do something, Gatomon!" he yells at his frozen partner and finally she moves, dives forward and slashes Palmon's vines, leaving them shredded and worthless on the ground as Heath is freed and falls to the ground, Wade easing his landing and holding him close. "C'mon, breathe, you ridiculous man, breathe," he orders, pressing on Heath's sternum roughly. "Dammit-"
Then it happens, Heath gasps and chokes, nearly jerking himself free of Wade's grip but he clings to him tighter, waiting until he stops fighting and opens his eyes, hands curling around Wade's arm. "... O-"
"Don't talk," Wade chides him when he grimaces and grabs at his throat, gasping sharply. "You were almost strangled. Just take it easy." He holds Heath close, glaring at Alicia and Palmon as Alicia beckons her partner closer, Monodramon hesitant as he doesn't want to delete the weaker digimon should he attack too severely.
Alicia's dark eyes look past them to Mike. "You know what you need to do," she says simply before brushing her hair over her shoulder and turning around, flouncing off with Palmon at her feet.
Mike releases a breath, frowning as he kneels down next to Heath and searches his face before turning back to look in the direction Alicia had disappeared. "What did that mean?" he mutters, a foreboding chill creeping down his spine. "I need to do something...? But what...?"
Between he and Wade, they get Heath up, they get him moving back in the direction of the portal, this weighing on all of their minds.
