Avengers- X-Men- Eternals- AXE- Judgment Day # 3

 By Mark Rodriguez

The Eternals ruled by Druid have decided to end all mutant due to their current ability to resurrect themselves endlessly. Druid unleashed giant Eternals to hunt them down. Some of the Eternals that oppose Druid teamed up with the Avengers to revive their fallen Celestial base as a new god to end the madness. The Celestial did indeed send the giant Eternals away, but now it has decided to pass judgment on the world. Everyone will be judged within 24 hours, individually and as a group and if the wicked outnumber the good, humanity will cease to exist.

Upon hearing the words of The Progenitor, Ajak is in disbelief and thinks this might be a test since their god cannot be so unjust. Makkari tries to comfort her. Ajak says maybe they shouldn't have used Tony Stark as an element. Tony says they can't blame him for this, as only he can blame himself. Captain America says blame can wait and asks how they intend to fix this. 

Captain America is the first to be judged, a symbol for a country that leads a world that gets worse every day. With this, Steve is considered a failure. Tony asks what hope the rest of humanity has if Steve was judged by that kind of standard. Cap tells Tony to work on a solution, he will try to keep the people calm.

Humanity watches Cap's broadcast and respond in their own way, some with faint hope that the world's heroes will fix this, but everyone has fears that this will really be the end.

Druig consults Uranos for what to do, and the patriarch Eternal tells him that the world is full of failures and deserves to be swept away. Druig prepares The Hex to do another attack upon the X-Men. Uranos wants to be released again. Druig says the situation will have to be much more desperate before he can even consider that. 

Elsewhere, Phastos warns the others that the Eternals intend to attack the X-Men again. Tony found a weakness he can use to destroy The Progenitor. Ajak says they can't just destroy the god, they must work to understand it. Phastos warns that destroying it can cause a backlash towards the Eternals, plus the explosion it would cause would be devastating. Ajak and Makkari leave the room and Phastos tells Tony that whatever plan he intends to do, their principles will force them to act to stop it. He tells him to do this safely and secretly. Mr. Sinister overhears this and tells this information to Destiny telepathically.

As the battle rages on in Krakoa, Xavier was just killed and needs to be brought back. Destiny talks to Emma about what she just found out. They know the weakness to bring the Celestial down and doing so can defeat the Eternals, ending their war. While they are afraid that this would cause devastation, she can see into the future and assures them that it does not. 

Destiny, Shaw, Mystique, Exodus and Hope vote in favor of this. Colossus, Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde vote against. The White Queen opts out. 

Hope tells Nightcrawler that if they see a head shot, they should take it. Exodus says Scott once risked the Earth with the Phoenix Force to bring mutants back, and this should be no different. Nightcrawler asks if they can even afford to send a strike force out, if their best move away from Krakoa, the Eternals will defeat them. Emma Frost says she has a secret as well. Just then the Deviants from the Eternals arrives in front of the X-Men willing to help in the fight. 

Captain America asks the other for any updates, for right now the only thing keeping humanity from going full panic mode is the belief that the heroes got the situation handled. Ajak discovers that their boundaries have been breached by the mutant strike force. Stark asks Sinister if he has anything to do with this. Sinister is typing things into the system as a piece of the Progenitor pops off its leg. This will let the X-Men access to its weak spot.

Stark tells Sinister that millions could die because of this. Sinister says maybe, but billions will live. Sinister taunts Tony saying that if everything goes south, Tony will die but he'll be resurrected. The Eternals Principals activate and force Ajak, Makkari and Phastos to protect the Celestial. Jean and Wolverine notice that they've been discovered and they'll have to fight their way in. 

Exodus clears a path for Jean as she flies inside the hole in the Celestial's leg. Tony flies up to her to stop her. Jean attacks the node within the Progenitor and Tony tells her that they risk it exploding out and taking out countless cities. Tony checks on it and says it looks like it will be ok. Just then the Celestial starts to crack and the following explosion wiped out all of humanity.

Jean realizes all of this wasn't real and they were all in its mind at the same time. The Progenitor showed all of humanity an example of their destruction, essentially making them live it. While some are relieved to still be alive, others are in shock or even died of heart attacks. 

The Celestial warns the world that its heroes saw themselves as gods above judgment and reminds them that the day ticks away. He gives Emma Frost the thumbs down. He gives the leader of the Deviants the thumbs up. He gives Destiny and Mystique the thumbs down. 

Jean yells at Sinister from the astral plane saying he knew all about the risks. Sinister says she should have known had she stayed with the Silent Council. He says he personally gives her a thumbs down. Back in reality Phastos and Makkari hold Ajak back from trying to kill Sinister. Sinister tells her it was a worth a shot, and since it didn't work, he asks what's next for them. Tony says at this point, they have no choice, the Progenitor will judge them all and there's nothing they can do about it. 

Captain America tells them that they will have to pass. There will be a lot of scared people out there that will do things they'll regret. The only way through this is to pull the whole world together. This gives Sersi an idea. 

Later on at the Exclsion, Sersi and Jack of Knives work together to break someone out. Sersi tells the person that they're in trouble and they think this person can help get the world on the same page. She realizes this is Eternal business but some of them have been more than just Eternals. The person they are talking to is Starfox. Starfox says the world will just have to realize that all they need is love. 

My Thoughts- 

Wow, what an issue. I have to say the part that resonated with me the most was the fact that everyone, every last human on Earth got a super realistic peek of their own destruction. I mean, just imagine that. Some otherworldly being makes you pretty much experience your own death as you are reduced to ash as the largest explosion in all of history approaches you. The fact it was so realistic that people died of heart attacks from it. 

In a way this is how you get a world that has already been through multiple alien invasions and been bystanders of Spider-Man fighting with Venom for the millionth time to actually take this seriously. While at first some people were hand-waving this assuming the Avengers got this, The Progenitor not only made everyone experience their own demise, but also flat out told them YOUR HEROES CAN'T SAVE YOU. 

The standards that this being judges people are kind of random. It might have made sense for former villains like Emma Frost, Mystique and Destiny, but Captain America? Should he not be given some sort of credit for never giving up and trying to keep hope alive despite all odds? 

The cliffhanger was unexpected with Starfox. He is Thanos' brother and he has the ability to control people's emotions, including making people infatuated with him. Sounds like he's going to help the world show a lot of love, but considering the Progenitor is all-seeing (at least when it comes to Earth), we'll see if that works.

I'm curious to see where this all leads. I do want to give an extra shout out to Mr. Sinister for being such a delightful little mustache twirler. I don't remember him being so comical in previous incarnations, but he's sure having fun being an overall jerk to everyone considering the current situation and how it will affect him too.

I mean, he can brag about resurrection all he wants, but if things really go south, there won't be anyone left alive to resurrect him or anybody else.