When the women peeked into the kitchen, something was immediately wrong.
The food was there. Several Italian dishes arranged neatly on the counters, the smell of fresh sauce and baked bread still lingering in the air. The person responsible for making all of it, however, was nowhere to be seen.
"Luke?" Jill called out.
No response.
Jean walked to the refrigerator and opened it. She looked inside for several seconds. "Are you in there?"
The others stared at her.
She closed it. "What? It's Luke. I wouldn't even be surprised."
Selene rubbed her forehead. "Do you think he heard us and slipped away?"
"If he had, he would've walked in and made some ridiculous joke first," Natasha said.
Several women nodded. That did sound like him.
Clarice looked around. "Then where is he?"
***
Above Earth, far beyond the atmosphere, Luke stood calmly in the vacuum of space.
Across from him towered a colossal figure clad in red cosmic armor. Even compared to planets, the being was enormous.
Arishem the Judge. The Celestial responsible for creating and guiding countless worlds throughout the universe.
His glowing eyes remained fixed on Luke. "Are you the one responsible for the death of Celestial Tiamut?"
Luke raised an eyebrow. "What if I am?"
Arishem was silent for a moment. "The birth of a Celestial is one of the most important events in existence. A single Celestial gives rise to new stars, new worlds, new life."
"Tiamut's emergence was part of a natural cycle — energy gathered over millions of years, meant to continue the expansion of life throughout the universe."
Luke listened quietly.
"The death of a Celestial is not trivial. The loss of Tiamut altered calculations that have existed since before many galaxies were born."
Luke folded his arms. "Let me guess. You want someone to pay for it."
"I seek answers."
"What answers are you expecting?" Luke's tone carried obvious disbelief.
"Humanity doesn't care about other civilizations when they're being told to die for them. You're asking an entire species to sacrifice themselves so something can happen millions of years later."
He pointed toward Earth.
"If someone walked up to a person and said your family, your world, everyone you've ever known must die so life can appear somewhere else — the answer would involve a middle finger. Even from good people."
Arishem's gaze remained fixed. "It seems humans are selfish."
Luke laughed. The sound echoed strangely through the cosmic energy surrounding them.
"Of course they are. Every living thing is selfish. A deer runs from predators because it wants to live. A civilization fights extinction for the same reason." He shook his head.
"You're acting like survival is a moral failing."
"You should consider the balance of the universe, not merely your own world."
"And who decided that?" Luke asked. For the first time, Arishem didn't answer immediately.
"You call it balance because you're the one benefiting from it. If Earth gets destroyed, humanity loses everything. If Tiamut dies, the Celestials lose one future member." He shrugged.
"Funny how the side that isn't exploding is always the one talking about the greater good."
"The birth of a Celestial creates countless stars and worlds. The death of Earth destroys one world."
Luke pointed at the planet without hesitation. "Yeah. Mine."
"Maybe from your perspective it's one world among trillions. From humanity's perspective it's literally everything." He looked directly into Arishem's eyes.
"You're asking the wrong species. If you offered humanity the choice between saving Earth and saving a billion civilizations they've never met, most would pick Earth. Not because they're evil. Because Earth is home."
The space between them went quiet. Far below, billions of people continued their lives with no idea a debate about their existence was taking place above them.
Luke sighed. "Look, Arishem. If another Celestial needs to be born, find an empty planet. Harsh, maybe. But better than telling an entire species to die for a cosmic spreadsheet."
Arishem stared at him for a long moment. "Regardless of your reasoning, you interfered with the Emergence and caused the death of a Celestial. There must be consequences."
Luke stared back.
Then laughed. Not nervously, not mockingly — genuinely laughed, the sound carrying through the surrounding cosmic space.
Arishem's gaze narrowed. "You find this amusing?"
"No." The laughter faded. "I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with your head." His expression went flat. "Do you seriously think I'm a pushover?"
The atmosphere shifted.
Subtly at first. Then Arishem felt it.
An endless ocean of energy began emanating from the humanoid standing before him.
The stars around them appeared dimmer by comparison. Space itself trembled — not from force or gravity, but because reality was instinctively reacting to Luke's presence.
For the first time since arriving, Arishem truly looked at Luke. Not as a human, not as a native of Earth — but as a cosmic entity.
What he saw disturbed him.
The energy surrounding Luke resembled no Celestial. It felt vast and endless, as though countless powers had been compressed into a single existence.
Luke took a step forward. Simple motion. The surrounding spacetime rippled outward like a stone dropped into still water.
"You came to my planet." Another step. Arishem felt something he hadn't experienced in an unimaginably long time. Pressure.
"You threatened the species living on it. Told me their extinction was necessary. And now you're talking about punishment."
He stopped moving and looked directly into Arishem's eyes.
"If you came for answers, we can talk. If you came for a fight, that's fine too." His expression stayed completely calm.
"Just don't make the mistake of assuming you're the stronger one."
*****
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