After announcing the marriage, it wasn't over, there wasn't any bouquet tossing segment, instead, the flower boy stepped forward to present flowers to the couple on behalf of the guests, expressing blessings. And after the couple received the flowers, they had to thank the guests on behalf of God. Some people would drink wine, while others would skip this segment and go straight to the reception.
Dick and Starfire chose not to drink wine because there were still many children present, besides neither of them liked drinking wine. Since it was a rehearsal, they skipped the segment where the Father reads aloud, and went straight to the flower presentation by the flower boy.
Aisha wasn't wearing a dress or gown either; the upper body was a high-neck white shirt and a suit jacket, the lower body was shorts, socks, and black leather shoes, which were very typical traditional English children's attire.
At a Catholic wedding, adults usually dress quite conservatively, with men and women mostly in suit jackets, the difference being that women wore thick skirts for the lower body, but children, regardless of gender, mostly wore shorts, which is also considered Western tradition.
The main flowers in the bouquet Aisha presented were irises and peonies, all in white. After Starfire received the flowers, she stroked Aisha's head, while Dick expressed his gratitude, and then announced the start of the reception.
The reception was held in the church courtyard, now the equipment was all set up, just the food wasn't laid out yet. The newlyweds and guests separated to head to the courtyard, the newlyweds' parents were responsible for entertaining the guests, while the newlyweds needed to change into reception attire.
Since it was a rehearsal, Starfire didn't wear a wedding dress, but she still had to try on the reception gown to see if it was convenient to move around. The bride's gown is usually white, whereas guests would try to avoid white, but Starfire was different; she chose a bright red gown matching the intensity of her hair color, drawing countless praises as soon as she appeared.
Dick wasn't in a traditional black suit either, but in a dark burgundy tailcoat, looking tall and attractive, matching with Starfire. Primary Universe Batman stared at them for a long time, then went off to talk to Arrogant.
Little Superman had been chatting with Greed, mostly talking about comics. They just finished discussing Catwoman eloping when, at that moment, he spotted a suspicious figure.
"Who is that? Iron Man?" Little Superman asked.
Greed turned around and saw it was indeed White Can, who had been walking towards the back porch, weaving in and out of the shrubs like he was looking for something.
"Ignore him," Greed shook his head, saying, "So many people are here, he wouldn't dare cause trouble."
Little Superman nodded but still kept an eye on White Can. He continued chatting with Greed while discreetly observing White Can's movements, noticing he wasn't with the scientists but had first sought out Doctor Strange and then chatted with Constantine.
This was certainly unusual. White Can wasn't a magician, nor had anyone heard of him being interested in magic; here were many of his counterparts and colleagues yet he wasn't engaging them in conversation but delving into the cluster of magicians. Could it be he intends to transition towards magic?
Besides Little Superman, Peter also noticed Iron Man seemed suddenly interested in magicians. He didn't think Iron Man planned to transition, he worried Iron Man might have fallen for someone's trick again, planning to stir up trouble at the wedding.
"What are you up to?" Peter stopped Iron Man as he was walking in another direction and asked, "Why are you chatting with Constantine?"
"Why shouldn't I chat with him?" Iron Man countered, "He's also a famous mage, right?"
"Also famous for indiscriminate tastes," Peter commented, "Be careful he doesn't fixate on you."
"He can't do anything to me," Iron Man said indifferently.
"Why've you suddenly become interested in magic?" Peter asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.
Iron Man seemed to remember then, he looked Peter over before saying, "You're a magician now too, right?"
"I suppose," Peter nodded.
"Then you… never mind, even if I tell you, you won't understand," Iron Man waved dismissively. Peter could see Iron Man seemed troubled, possibly about something related to magic, but he didn't seem to want to ask Peter.
"Do you want to rescue Steven?" Peter asked surprisingly.
Iron Man's eyes widened instantly, looking at Peter, his mouth opened but couldn't seem to find words. Then he suddenly remembered that in this universe, Doctor Strange had been injured by Peter.
"So you and he... "
Images of another self's slightly sorrowful expression on video flashed through Iron Man's mind.
"... At that time, contact between the stars and Earth was cut off, I didn't know the reason, but I was sure our plan would definitely fail if it continued."
"Steven also noticed something was wrong; he knew we must restore communication, so he had to take great risks to open the channel formerly used to communicate with the Eye Demon. That allowed the stars' messages to be sent to Earth again, but he himself got trapped."
"I hope you can help me find him and bring him back... "
Iron Man looked at Peter, whose expression remained calm, except there was a hint of fatigue when discussing this matter.
"Not just Steven, you were involved too." Iron Man's tone was very certain, "Harming him was just a play you two acted out. I wondered how you could harm someone so easily, Spider-Man."
Peter did not deny it, he just said, "If I had a way to bring him back, I definitely would do it. But you have to consider what kind of disaster a crazed, out-of-control Doctor Strange would bring to Earth."
Iron Man paused for a moment: "You mean he's been contaminated?"
"No one knows, but we can't take the risk." Peter sighed lightly, "Before he left, he predicted this, so he disappeared under the guise of retreating into seclusion for recuperation, so no one would go looking for him."
Iron Man's Adam's apple moved: "You, Steven, Reed, and the original me... you all knew everything, and I'm the only one kept in the dark."
"We didn't know everything from the start." Peter pressed his lips together and said, "Actually, at that time I didn't know what they were doing. I didn't know about the existence of destiny, but I was their friend, and I could see the pain they were bearing and knew they had things to do, so I helped them."
"If you only calculate gains and losses, then everyone will only talk to you about interests." Peter said, "If you don't invest emotions, you won't receive truly heartfelt friendships in return, and when it's time to share hardships, naturally you won't be included."
Iron Man could only remain silent in response, and after a while, he said, "If I want to bring Doctor Strange back, what should I do?"
"Ritual." Peter just said one word, yet Iron Man seemed to understand something; perhaps he learned some things from other Doctor Stranges.
The Doctor Strange of this universe doesn't want to return, so he might have destroyed all related information. However, a key piece of information was mentioned in videos left by the former Iron Man, which is the Eye Demon, and other universes' Doctor Stranges have dealt with the Eye Demon and have detailed information.
After Iron Man left, Peter looked toward the cathedral again, this grander-than-ever cathedral, whose towering steadfastness seemed like a ladder ascending to Heaven. Just, this time it might not be humans climbing upwards.
"My God, I'm exhausted." Little Superman directly collapsed onto the sofa, "I really didn't think getting married could be so troublesome. My mind is full of 'The Lord says'..."
Shiller also sat down, taking a breather; he was quite tired too. A Catholic wedding tortures everyone; it takes truly devout people to feel happiness and joy at such a ceremony.
"Why are they even holding this ceremony?" Little Superman was truly puzzled, "The bride and groom's prayers are not smooth, and I don't think they believe much."
"It's a ritual." Shiller sighed softly and spoke the truth, "The wedding is one of the seven sacraments, a ritual for communicating with God."
"Let's not talk about this now." Little Superman said, "I've heard enough mythology stories today..."
"It's not a myth story." Shiller shook his head and said, "You know about magic, right? This is somewhat similar to a magic ritual; it's effective."
Little Superman was slightly stunned and then said, "Effective? It can really summon God? But if every marriage requires God to attend, doesn't God have to be extremely busy?"
"That also depends on who is getting married and who's involved in the wedding ceremony." Shiller explained, "So many superheroes, Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, all praying to you—if you were God, wouldn't you take a look?"
"Why would they attend?" Little Superman instinctively retorted, but he quickly realized what Shiller was saying.
From the reader's perspective, these are all extremely popular heroes; just having so many Batmans together would be a grand centennial-level event, not to mention the heroes from the neighboring side, which would likely be an unprecedented mega crossover event.
Then these superheroes stand together inviting the boss to inspect, if you're the boss, wouldn't you give them some face? And on such a great day, what could be said? It's just some congratulatory words for the newlyweds, isn't it?
If an editor dared to arrange for God to say something like 'destiny demands you repeat the same mistakes, so you're not allowed to marry' or simply let God break up this couple, wouldn't they be cursed by believers?
This involves a real-world problem: many people get married in religious ceremonies, but in reality, God cannot show signs, and it's commonly accepted that God agrees.
Now having a wedding in the comic where God comes to break up the couple gives the possibility of God 'disagreeing', questioning the legitimacy of marriages conducted under religious ceremonies in reality?
So as long as God shows up, he can only bless. And if the big boss speaks, then this marriage certainly has to succeed, otherwise, wouldn't it be slapping God's face?
However, Little Superman was still a bit worried; he said, "What if God decides not to come? These superheroes wouldn't be able to do anything about it."
"Superheroes can't deal with him, but his son might not have the same constraints." Shiller showed a mysterious smile.
"His son? You mean Jesus?"
"No, it's Lucifer Morningstar."