Tony Stark woke up to a view so white, he thought the blast he took had damaged his eyes. As he looked around, he saw that he was really inside a glacier of some kind, yet for some reason he wasn't cold in the slightest. While he was still weak and exhausted, he noticed that he didn't have any of the burn marks he expected to have after what he experienced back on the Egg Carrier. He was lying in a bed surrounded by what appeared to be medical equipment, but their designs were completely alien to the armored avenger. It turns out that would be an apt turn of phrase, as Superman stepped into the room and explained he had brought him to his arctic Fortress of Solitude and hooked Tony up to various Kryptonian healing machines.
"Earth technology could have still saved your life, but you would have to spend the rest of it looking like an overcooked lasagna, and I doubt that would have gone over well with all your lady friends."
Tony smirked. "So, the Man of Tomorrow has jokes, huh? Good to know."
Superman grinned in turn, but then got an incredibly serious yet compassionate look on his face. "Tony, I wanted to apologize…"
"Don't. I deserve it. I was a major asshole back then." Tony said dismissively.
"Yes, you were, but that's not the point. I believe in second chances and redemption, that anyone can and should strive to be better, but I was so blinded by your similarities to Luthor that I failed to recognize you were doing your very best to right the wrongs you caused. It wasn't until today that I realized just how much I misjudged you."
Tony looked surprised, but in his guilt he started to downplay his heroism. "You mean that thing with Janet? That was no big deal. She's one of my closest friends; I had to do something."
"That blast nearly killed you, Tony. Besides, after looking it over again with clean eyes, your hero career is very impressive, and you've done a fine job fighting back against those who would use your technology for evil. I'm sorry I was too blinded by my petty grudges to see that."
Superman put out his hand for a firm shake, which Tony hesitated to accept, but once he did so he did it enthusiastically and with a deep sense of gratitude in his eyes. To be validated by whom many saw as the moral center of the entire world did wonders for combating his remaining sense of self-hatred.
"That means a lot, especially coming from you. Thanks." Tony smiled sincerely.
Once the moment had passed, Tony tried to stand up, but nearly collapsed and had to be put back into his bed by Superman.
"Woah there, Tony. You still need a few more hours of bed rest before you can go walking around."
"I don't need to walk, the suit lets me fly, remember?"
"I'm being serious, you are in no condition to do anything strenuous right now."
"Well I can't just sit here doing nothing. Who knows what the sunny side scientist is doing with those emeralds. Besides, he stole something that was under my protection, so it's my responsibility to get it back."
"It wasn't your fault Tony, Eggman has technology none of us have ever seen before. Besides, you all have been through enough. If anyone is going to go after that madman, it's going to be me."
Tony was dumbfounded. "Wait, you aren't seriously considering chasing this guy down all on your own are you?"
"I don't want anyone getting hurt more then they already have. I mean, look at what already happened! You nearly burned to death, Diana got covered head to toe with every type of wound imaginable, and Captain America of all people got a concussion! I'm the invulnerable one, so I'm the one that should handle this."
"Look you may be the strongest guy on the planet, but I'm one of the smartest, and I'm telling you right now you can't do this alone. Hell, all of us minus Cap plus a shit ton of SHIELD agents couldn't stop Eggman from getting what he wanted."
Superman thought back to the Helicarrier, how utterly draining it was to separate the Egg Carrier from SHIELDs vessel. He also thought on how Metal Knuckles fought one of the mightiest warriors on the planet to a near standstill, how Metal Sonic could easily outmaneuver two foes that had extensive experience with it, and just the sheer magnitude of Eggman's ship and the army that accompanied it. Even with all his strength, abilities, and power, could he have really handled that all on his own? Were things just getting too much for him?
"I don't want anyone getting hurt…" Superman started.
Tony gently stopped him from going down that path. "Hey, we all signed up for this on our own. We know the risks, and are willing to take those punches. Even if it was just for some random guy I'd jump in front of that laser all over again. It's all part of the job."
"But you shouldn't have to do that…"
"Something I've learned from my friends over the years is that you shouldn't have to feel like you need to carry the entire world on your shoulders. There are always other people who are more than happy to help you carry that burden, even if it hurts them, because seeing you get hurt in their place also hurts them. Sometimes you need to let others protect you too, for both your sake and theirs."
Superman recalled how Batman had told him something similar earlier, but despite being much closer to the dark knight hearing all this from someone who clearly struggled with the same feelings of extreme personal responsibility he did helped him receive the message much better.
"Besides," Tony continued. "We'd all get a lot less beat up next time if we all do this a lot better."
"You mean work as a team." Superman asked, his voice betraying his doubt over the suggestion. "Last I remembered you didn't take kindly to that idea back at the Helicarrier."
"I guess we both have trouble playing well with others. Besides, I didn't know how tough Eggheads army was at the time."
"Batman was all set with a plan…"
Tony interrupted. "And why would the guy who beats up mafia bosses and killer clowns know anything about military strategy, especially against something so far out of his wheelhouse like an army of mechanical woodland critters?"
"I've known him for years, he's very well versed in tactics of all kinds. But you're right, besides me and maybe Diana none of the others had any reason to listen to him." Superman turned to leave the room. "If we're going to work together, there's one man I know I have to talk to."
Steve Rogers marveled at what he was witnessing behind what he assumed to be glass, but for all he knew was some sort of space age sci-fi see through material that was a zillion times stronger than steel made up of bio-geological power cells from Venus or something like that. He saw flora and fauna like he's never seen before in real life or in the movies, things so bizarre in their form and function that Cap couldn't possibly fathom how they could even be alive at all. And yet here they are, all peaceful and serene, on display like any other animal at a Central Park Zoo exhibit. Cap wanted desperately to sketch them, both to remember this moment indefinitely and to try and make sense of this madness of biology in front of him using his caricatures. As Superman floated to him from down the hall, he decided he'd have to do this another time.
"Strange, aren't they?" Superman started, noticing Rogers intense fascination with his curious collection. "And yet so beautiful in their own peculiar way."
"...What are they?" Was all Captain America could get out, nearly speechless from what was before him.
"Endangered species from all across the cosmos." Superman answered. "I've made it a hobby of mine to bring strays like this back home to stay safe until I can find a planet they fit in on, which is a lot harder then it sounds. I gotta make sure it's a place they can thrive in but without their presence damaging the local ecosystem. Don't want to accidentally cause an invasive species catastrophe, right?"
For the first time in what seemed like an eternity Captain America's gaze was torn from the alien animal sanctuary in front of him and onto the man standing next to him.
"So even on your off hours you're still finding ways to help out." Cap smiled. "Your reputation precedes you, son."
Supes could barely hold back his blush as he scratched his head in embarrassment. "Oh it's nothing really. Especially not compared to you."
Superman then took a deep breath, composed himself, and put on his professional, 'symbol of hope' face. "And that's why I'm here. To beat Eggman all eight of us are going to have to stand as a united front, and there's no one better to lead us into battle then you."
"I don't know, I feel as though there's at least one other person who could handle the job."
Immediately picking up what Cap was putting down, Superman started vehemently rejecting the idea.
"Me? No way! With all due respect sir, without you we all immediately fell apart back at the Helicarrier!"
"You were ambushed, sucker punched, taken off guard and by surprise alongside people you just met against forces you knew absolutely nothing about. Most people would falter in a situation like that."
"Maybe not with a legend like you there to guide us!"
"Don't sell yourself so short, from where I'm standing you've become quite the legend yourself. I've seen countless articles and videos of your hero work: how many villains you've defeated, battles you've won, and, most importantly, lives you saved. It's all incredibly impressive."
Superman felt himself practically melting from receiving so much praise from his childhood icon, but continued to deflect, as he didn't feel himself worthy of such admiration from his hero.
"None of that makes me a good leader. For so many reasons beyond my control; being the first costumed hero in forever, being so strong, being able to help people everywhere around the world due to my powers; people have started to really look up to me. They've even started to call me the 'modern Captain America,' which I've always been really uncomfortable with. It's all just so much to live up to. For all my strength and fantastical abilities at the end of the day I'm just some guy from Kansas doing my best to help, and I don't know if that's good enough anymore."
"Humility is an important virtue Superman, but too much of it can cause you to be blind to your own worth. You say you're just a guy from Kansas? Well, I'm just a guy from Brooklyn. I was a scrawny little nobody before I got the super soldier serum, remember? And while you're right that being a great hero doesn't automatically make you a great leader, an incredibly important aspect of leadership is being able to inspire people, to be able to ignite something deep inside others that would make them want to follow you into Hell itself. It's something that not many people have and can take years to purposefully cultivate, but it's something you have in absolute spades. I've seen how people look at you, talk about you, and most importantly how you make them feel. You make everyone, from the mightiest of warriors to the humblest of civilians, want to try their best to make the world a better place just from seeing you do your part and smiling that warm, comforting smile of yours. Besides, I've seen your address from the end of the Millennium War. It was one of the first things everyone said I needed to watch once I got out of the ice. You know how to give one hell of a speech, son. The world doesn't need another Captain America when it already has a Superman."
"...thank you. You have absolutely no idea how much you saying all that means to me." Barely containing himself from bursting out into tears from pure and utter joy, Superman still had one final argument to make. "Still, I don't exactly have the mind for tactics you do. That was always Batmans forte, and no one paid attention to him in the Helicarrier."
"I don't know a lot about your shadowy friend, but I can tell he doesn't exactly rouse people the same way you or I do. He'd sooner make someone soil their pants then want to follow him into battle."
Superman chuckled a bit, knowing exactly how true that statement was from experience. Sure he's commanded a good number of sidekicks over the years, but Batman was most effective as a strict, no nonsense taskmaster. While that method is good at temporarily quelling dissent, that's not the type of leader people would willingly follow if they weren't obligated to, especially if they had a strong personality like Tony or Sonic. They couldn't have any huge egos butting heads at such a critical juncture.
The Captain continued. "But luckily strategy is a much more easily learned aspect of leadership. Both me and Batman can both help you with that over time so you can more properly guide this new generation of heroes. Meanwhile, I can take charge of this one mission if that would make everyone the most comfortable."
"Great! So lets round up the troops and…"
"Supes! Cap!" Sonic rushed into the room with a burst of wind trailing his speeding from before coming to a screeching halt. "Come to the main computer quick! Eggman is making his next move!"
The Captain and Superman rushed to the Fortress's central chambers as fast as they possibly could, only to be greeted by a tiny furry child tapping away at the central control panel.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Superman asked, before realizing that Tails had complete control over the commands of his Kryptonian module. "Scratch that, how did you manage to figure out how this works? This tech comes from a long dead alien race you only just learned existed today!"
"I don't know, it was pretty easy. Once you've reversed engineered one extraterrestrial species' technology you've pretty much reverse engineered them all. Just ask the Black Arms and the Metarex."
Before everyone could be properly impressed by the boy's surprising genius, they were motioned by him to look at the crystalline screen before them to witness what the two furry friends were so eager for them to see. Displayed was an overhead satellite feed of an endless expanse of ocean, specifically the Pacific, that was completely serene and empty for about a second before over twenty flying battleships suddenly appeared out of thin air. While they were all of various sizes, every single one of the warships were at least as big as the Helicarrier, with the biggest being over three times the size of the Egg Carrier they battled upon previously. They were of various different colors and their designs ranged from the standard ship form to being modeled after various ocean species such as manta rays and sawfish. They are all armed to the teeth with an innumerable amount of cannons and battle ready badniks stationed both on top of and flying around their decks. Adorning every ship in this grand armada was the same symbol, one that featured the face of whom the Earth dwellers assumed to be Eggman himself, sporting an impressive mustache and a huge, toothy, self-satisfied grin that had such an intense mocking aura that it made everyone in the room want to punch out the man behind the icon, even those who have never once met the dictator doctor.
"Wait!" Tails reversed the video, zoomed in significantly into the area where the ships were going to appear, enhanced the footage, and played it in slow motion. Superman was once again both baffled and amazed about how this child could gain such mastery over his Kryptonian technology in such a short amount of time, but Tails' observation interrupted his chain of thought.
"Look at this! The second the airships appear, you can see some red and black cubes and particles all around them, like a series of glitches in a video game." One glance at the screen easily confirmed what he was saying. "That must mean they are coming from the Phantom Ruby! It's a jewel that has the power to create illusions, but I think Eggman found a way to use the power of the emeralds to make the illusions real! I was wondering how he got an Egg Carrier all the way to another planet without us knowing about it!"
"And that ship and those robots from earlier were certainly not illusions." A fully healed Wonder Woman said, still rubbing the spots on her arm where her wounds used to be.
"That location in the Pacific is also where my tracker on Metal Knuckles led to." Batman interjected. "I looked at the location via various satellites and saw nothing, but was going to investigate more but then the Egg Carrier showed up."
"So you're a hacker too, Bats?" Tony joked. "Are there any other technological geniuses here we should know about?"
"Whatever base Eggman has out there, he must be cloaking it with the same technology that let him sneak up on the Helicarrier." Batman deduced, ignoring Stark entirely, much to his annoyance.
"Well he doesn't seem to want to hide anymore!" Janet exclaimed. "His fleet is headed straight for Tokyo! We've got to do something before he blows it all to kingdom come!"
"And do something we will." Captain America spoke confidently and authoritatively, causing everyone to turn towards him and listen intently.
"Now Superman has asked me to lead you all on this mission. Is everyone on board with that?"
Nearly everyone in the room nodded their heads, while Sonic shrugged and smiled.
"I've been used to just winging it for quite a while now, but I remember how that went down back at the Helicarrier." He explained. "I'm a big enough hedgehog to know when I need a plan, and you seem like you know what you're doing, so I'll trust you."
"You're a hedgehog?" Tony questioned. "I thought you were some kinda spiny blue rat."
Sonic smirked. "Hey man, you do not want to know what happened to the last guy who called me a rat." He said, remembering the adventure he had involving an evil purple genie.
"Ok, Mr. Needle Mouse, I'm shaking in my boots over here." Tony feigned a shiver. "What are you going to do, use one of your quills to poke me in the ass?"
"Metalhead, I was kicking your ass up and down the jungle floor not too long ago, remember?"
"Until I trapped you and you needed your little bro to bail you out, you mean?"
"Psh. That was a cheap shot and you know it. In a one on one I totally…"
"Enough." The Captain said sternly, shutting the two jokesters up. "There will be time for banter later. For now we need to strategize. Sonic and Tails, have you dealt with fleets like this before?" They both nodded. "Then do you know their weaknesses?"
"Of course!" Tails said cheerily, bringing out his bulky yellow tablet. "I've studied the designs of the various ships of the Egg Fleet extensively and have calculated what points need to be destroyed on each vessel for maximum damage."
"Excellent. Good work Tails." Despite only knowing this man for less then a day, the fox felt a great sense of pride in receiving a compliment from the Captain.
"Let's work together to devise a way for us to destroy these things as quickly and efficiently as possible." Cap continued. "First off, the flyers can bring us grounded soldiers from ship to ship as we fight."
"Actually," Batman interjected. "I have a state of the art fighter aircraft all ready. I think I'll be of more use using that then throwing batarangs around."
Tony was flabbergasted. "...ok, first the satellites and now a high tech jet? Are you a master thief on the side, got a generous sugar daddy, or are you just as rich as me under that cowl?"
Batman shocked Stark by showing the smallest smirk possible, as if to subtly say 'you'll never know.'
"I also have a jet," Wonder Woman said. "Though I think I'd be more useful on the front lines, so if anyone else here has experience with flying I'd be more than happy to lend it out to them."
"I can do it." Tails piped up. "Just ask Sonic, I'm an ace pilot. I shoot Eggman's bots and planes out of the sky all the time!" Everyone but Sonic looked at Tails with curiosity and confusion on their faces. "What? I'm a fox of many talents."
"Alright," Wonder Woman said. "But just be warned: the jet is completely invisible, even from the inside. You won't be able to see the controls at all"
"Sounds like a fun challenge to me!" Tails exclaimed.
"Alright soldiers, let's look over Tails' schematics and develop a strategy as quickly as we can. Then we'll head straight for Eggman's fleet."
"Hell yeah!" Janet exclaimed, her voice bursting with excitement and anticipation. "Let's turn these eggbots into robo omelets!"