=Chapter 9=

As Amy feared from the night before, the whole team was watching her like a hawk again. Since Mephiles had attempted to kidnap her, they all assumed that he was going to snatch her again the first chance he got. She couldn't go anywhere unless she had someone with her. It was really irritating for Amy because she felt like a 5-year-old being babysitted. Even Shadow was watching her all day as he was tending to business through security cameras. What made things worse, was that Rouge was dragging the sakura hedgehog from wedding chore to wedding chore. The only nice thing that came from the all the insanity that came out of Amy's day, was the fact that Shadow would give her some good TLC when they went to bed.

XXXXXXX

Another week went by and there was no sign of Mephiles anywhere. That still didn't deter the team from keeping a look out for him. Especially Shadow. The G.U.N. managed to restore the damage done at the downtown section so in no time at all, it was safe enough to inhabit by civilians again. But that still didn't satisfy Shadow, not by a long shot. He had everything on 24 hour watch, which made Amy even more worried about him. She was beginning to think that the ebony hedgehog was taking this rather personally.

It was about to get even more personal.

XXXXXXX

One day, Amy and the rest of the girls were inspecting Cream's outfit. She was to be the flower girl for the ceremony. Her dress was almost like the bridesmaids' dresses, but a bit more plain. Plus, it had a more pastel orange color to it which made it brighter.

"Wow Cream, you look so cute in that." Amy commented.

"Thanks!" Cream cheerfully replied. "I'm sure Tails' gonna love it too!"

"Hey by the way, where's her hair piece?" Blaze asked, looking around.

"It hasn't come in yet." Rouge explained. "It should get in tomorrow."

Then Amy remembered something.

"Oh hey! Maybe I can use that little crown she made me the other day." she said. "Be right back!"

"W-wait, Amy!" Blaze called out.

But the cherry-pink female was already out the door. She rushed down the hall and went into the elevator. Blaze had gone after her because she knew that Shadow did not want Amy by herself, but she was too late to reach her at the elevator.

"Shoot!" Blaze cursed.

The lilac cat would have to use the staircase. When Amy got onto the 7th floor, she sensed immediately that something was off. First, her nose twitched to scent that smelled like something was burning. Instead of going into Shadow's room, Amy decided to investigate this strange scent. She went down the hall and found a storage room. It was pitch dark inside save for small flickers of light. Now filled with curiosity, Amy went into the room and what she saw next, horrified her. Lying in the middle of the room, was a chao plusie-which Sonic had given to Amy as an apology for the condom-set on fire.

"Wha-what the hell?" Amy cried backing away.

"A wedding gift for you, my dear..." hissed a voice.

Amy froze. She knew who the voice belonged to, but she couldn't see him anywhere. Fortunately, Blaze had just reached the floor via the staircase, and she too caught the scent of fire in the hall.

"Amy?" the lavender female called out.

"Blaze...help!"

With that, the pyrokinetic feline instantly flew to Amy's side. As soon as Blaze saw the fire, she went berserk.

"AMY, GET BACK!" she exclaimed.

The lilac cat yanked the sakura hedgehog out of the way and used her powers to extinguished the flames. When they were out, Blaze switched on the lights, but there was nothing there other than the storage bins and the charred chao plushie. Amy was so shocked and disturbed by the whole thing that she started to get a little emotional.

"Amy, you okay?" Blaze asked.

"Y-yeah." Amy rasped, quickly wiping her eyes and with her knees shaking.

Now she was scared. At first, she was ready to give Mephiles one hell of an ass whooping with no holding back. But now, the demon had successfully intimidated her. Later, while the rest of the team was investigating the storage room, the cherry-pink female was put into Shadow's room with Blaze watching her. Knuckles, Sonic, Shadow, and the rest of the guys were looking all over the storage room.

"Damn." Sonic ranted. "Just how the hell did he get in here without setting anything off?"

"I've checked all the security cams and sensors, but they didn't pick up a thing." Tails said.

"Maybe he used stealth?" Vector asked. "Like Espio?"

"If he did, it was very good stealth." Silver added. "I can't pick up any trace of his presence. It's like he was never here."

This made Shadow growl in frustration. It felt like Mephiles was toying with him. Sonic went over and picked up the nearly burnt plushie.

"Well...so much for this." he said.

Knuckles turned and saw Shadow's behavior was not improving at all.

"Shadow, go to Amy." the ruby echidna told the midnight male, earning a glare from him. "Go on, she needs you. We can take care of things here."

Shadow let out a frustrated sigh and went to him down. His antagonized expression instantly softened when he opened his door. Blaze was at the right side of his bed, trying to cheer up Amy who was almost all curled up into a ball on the bed. The lilac cat stood up when she said Shadow came it. Then she walked over to him.

"She's really shaken up." Blaze told the ebony hedgehog.

"I know. Thank you, Blaze." Shadow replied.

"Sure."

With that, the lavender female left two alone. Shadow went over to Amy and sat down next to her. She was clutching a pillow with a frightened expression. When she saw him, she buried her face deeper into the cushion she was squeezing with a death-like grip.

"I'm sorry..." Amy muttered in a small voice.

"For what?" Shadow asked in a surprised tone.

"..I...I don't know."

Shadow leaned forward and began nuzzling her neck. That was when Amy could no longer hold it in and started crying like a baby. Shadow wrapped his arms around her and rocked his bride-to-be back and forth in a slow and gentle manner.

"Shhhhh. It's alright, little one." Shadow quietly cooed. "I'm right here."

Amy let out a sniffle and nuzzled his tuft of white fur, collecting her emotions.

XXXXXXX

The next two days went by uneventful. Amy had calmed down a bit after that disturbing episode despite having graphic nightmares about it. Shadow's presence made her feel all the more safer. Now the team had a big event coming up. That night, they would all go to the city hall for two big events. One was the proclamation of Amy and Shadow's marriage. The second, was discussing the current issue with the Mephiles situation. Everyone was a busy little bee the whole day. Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles were taking care of the really important and official stuff, and Silver, Tails, and the Chaotix were out inspecting the limos that pulled into Castle Mobius' gates to make sure they weren't rigged in any way. Meanwhile, the girls were helping each other pick out what to wear. Just before they all left, Amy was putting her own finishing touches on Shadow's suit. The jacket was a shiny leather with little chain attachments and at knee length. The sakura hedgehog added a corsage to it. She was clad in a silk and fabric layered white fading into black dress.

"There. That looks nice." Amy said, complimenting her handiwork.

"Thank you, love." Shadow said, kissing her on the nose, then taking her hand. "Shall we go then?"

"Sure, I guess."

Amy had shrugged her shoulders a little, earning a loving nuzzle from Shadow. They joined the others and boarded one of the three limos that waited for them and went off to the city hall. The first hour of the evening went rather well. It was nice and orderly. To make sure things had stayed that way, Rouge had G.U.N. agents come and pose as security. Amy was enjoying herself, having the burning plushie episode almost disappear from her mind completely. Shadow had kept a close watch on the cherry-pink female throughout most of the night. The real big excitement came during the proclamation of their wedding and everyone went into a semi-celebration. Then things sort of quieted down and the mood got briefly serious when the issue was switched to the subject of Mephiles. With most of the city officials and the head of the G.U.N. briefed, everyone could relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. Amy had gotten herself into another discussion with Rouge and the girls on 'wedding dos and don'ts', which made her let out a little sigh of frustration. To think she would be allowed at least a few hours without having to hear about wedding plans. Finally, the moment came when everyone started going home for the night. It was about almost midnight. As many of the honored guests were leaving, a few still remained including the team for a few talks and the final last call. Shadow caught Amy yawning from the corner of his eye and went over to her.

"Are you getting exhausted, Rose?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a little bit." Amy replied.

He took the sakura hedgehog's hand and led her through the back where the team's limos were waiting to take them home. Guarding them was a unit of G.U.N. agents. Shadow helped Amy into one of the vehicles after coming out of the building.

"I'll be back shortly, you just wait here." the crimson-splashed male told her.

"Okay." Amy replied.

He gave her a peck on the forehead before she descended into the limo. Then Shadow turned to the G.U.N. agents.

"If anything should happen before I return, have the driver take her straight back to Castle Mobius. Understood?"

"Yes sir." one agent replied, saluting.

With that, Shadow went back into the building to inform the others that he was taking Amy home. Suddenly, part of the electricity in the whole building went out, making everything dim. Seconds later, hundreds of Iblis' fire monsters popped out of the walls and floor and attacked.

"Damn!" Shadow cursed.

XXXXXXX

Outside where Amy was waiting, two fire golems suddenly appeared out of thin air and began attacking the other G.U.N. guards. One of them quickly sped to the limo containing Amy and frantically knocked on it.

"Go! Go!" he shouted.

With his orders, the limo drove off into the night. Amy become a little confused as to what was going on and panicked when the limo took off without Shadow.

"Driver!" she called out. "Driver, wait! We have to wait for Shadow! Driver?"

Then the screen partition rolled down, revealing who was commandeering the vehicle.

"Where to, Amy?"

"SHAAAAAAADDOOOOOOWWWW!"