World's End
The series resumes following Number of the Beast, as part of the "World's End" storyline, with the group coming out of a teleportation system in which they had been held (due to power loss) into a devastated New York approximately 6 months following the events of Number of the Beast.
Once they reach the surface from the underground lair, the group is shocked to see what has happened in New York (aside from Burnout, who is blind at this point). While Grunge is quick to claim that an asteroid, global warming, and other natural disasters were responsible for the destruction, Rainmaker blames terrorists. After a confrontation with several crazed metahuman-hunters, the group finally manages to escape New York.
Once outside of New York, the group finds themselves trapped in a mall with several mutated monsters, one of which seemingly infects Fairchild. While the group is holding together, tensions have begun to rise between Fairchild and Rainmaker, with the latter being attracted to the first. Burnout, while still blind, gains some semblance of vision with the ability to sense heat patterns.
During their stay at a skater park run by teens, Grunge is crowned king. He is originally thrilled about it, but later finds out that his predecessor is to be eaten in a soup. Rainmaker, having witnessed Caitlin and Bobby kiss in a tent, grabs her gear and leaves the group without saying goodbye to anyone.
The other teens are confronted by the cloned scientist Dr. Cross, who created them after their original deaths; however, he and his assistant Megan are both stuck at ages 5 and 9, respectively, due to the loss of electricity caused by the cataclysm, while retaining their memories and intellects. They manage to save Grunge and to overpower the heavily armed children-scientists due to the intervention of Goo, a Gen14. As they flee, it is revealed that Caitlin's power has failed, most probably due to the infection, and she suffers a serious knife injury.
Having nowhere else to go, they join the children-scientists, who promise to heal Caitlin. They arrive in a small town that is under the "protection" of a World War II supervillain team, the Fearsmiths (the imprisoned villains from Number of the Beast). The two groups clash, with Gen¹³ being easily beaten. Following another defeat, they are separated from Fairchild and the scientists as they are abducted by the Paladins, who offer to train them.
Unknown to any them, Goo was sent by the remnants of the U.S. military — specifically a branch who specialized in fighting metahumans. The squad was designed to apprehend Gen¹³ and have accordingly been practicing on a small group of Gen14s, of which Goo is a member. Naturally, their practice sessions ended with the Gen14s being killed, cloned, and their minds transferred and later modified so that they do not remember their ordeal. Oddly enough, Goo seems to be regaining some of her memories.
Currently on orders from the general in charge of the military squad, Gen14 have invaded the Paladins' headquarters and are ready to confront Gen¹³, who currently consist only of Burnout, Grunge, and Freefall.
The fight between the gen-actives and the military branch is over quickly with the Gen14 and military winning. Once they have been captured, Gen¹³ are offered an ultimatum: either join the military and serve them or be executed. In order to prove his point, the general shoots and kills Gen14's Windsprint. His plans, however, are crossed by Roxy, who levitates the Paladin base into space, knocking them all out due to oxygen deprivation.
In the meantime, Caitlin has fully mutated due to the Warhol virus she was exposed to, and is rampaging across town in a Hulk-like fashion. Her rampage is cut short as the Paladin base crash lands next to her. The gen-actives band together and take on Caitlin, hoping to calm her down, but they do not succeed. Seeing no alternative, Goo sacrifices herself in order to short-circuit the virus, thus reverting Caitlin to her former self.
Three weeks later, Bobby, Roxy, Grunge, Caitlin, and the surviving Gen14s Runt and Ditto arrive at Tranquility (a town of retired super-heroes) only to find a crater where the town had been. The group decides not to despair and to go on even if it means that are heading into trouble.
Read more about this topic: Gen¹³, Fictional Team History
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