"What do you want now Stiyl?" the dark, spiky-haired boy asked, "You always say how you don't want me getting all 'chummy' with you, and yet you're the one always coming to me for help."
"Just shut up would you? The only reason I ask for your help is because I'm told to, you and I both already know we don't make a great team. However your powers are useful to say the least, unlike that inherent snarkiness of yours." the fiery-red haired man replied with disdain.
The two glared at each other intensely for a few moments before sighing and leaning against the gray stone wall. Touma Kamijo, a young boy with a power known as Imagine Breaker in his right arm, that crushed any and all supernatural powers be they scientific or magical, and Stiyl Magnus, a Magician with red hair like flames and a personality and elemental affinity to match. Their very natures as Esper and Magician were conflicting, which only compounded on their conflicting personalities. To say the two of them didn't get along would be a massive understatement, but they got results and ultimately that's all that mattered to the people leading from the shadows.
"Ah, I see you two are getting along as expected." interjected a blonde man with dark glasses who looked like he was trying a little too hard to be the quintessential 'cool kid'.
"Oh hey Tsuchimikado, I see you healed up well." Touma replied greeting him. Tsuchimikado Motoharu was a Magician like Stiyl, but after going through the Esper curriculum in Academy City he was no longer able to use his magic without causing severe harm to himself. Luckily the Esper power he gained was Auto-Regeneration, and thus he was able to rapidly heal himself of any injuries incurred by his spellcasting.
"Yeah I'm feeling a lot better now that I've had the opportunity to rest up a bit and recuperate, even though I can heal the physical injuries, spellcasting still drains me. But enough of the small talk, you know why I'm here, something's come up and I need your help looking into it. I'd like to ask if you want the good news or the bad news first, but unfortunately it's pretty much bad news and worse news." Tsuchimikado replies grimly.
"So what's the situation?" Touma asks somewhat nervously, noting the look on Tsuchimikado's face.
"So as you know Academy City is comprised of 23 School Districts, however unbeknownst to all but the highest ranking officials, there's currently a 24th District under construction outside of Academy City itself, a site where more questionable research can be held without risk of the general populace finding out, or should I say there was."
Thoughts of the Level 6 Shift project and the ten thousand dead Sisters raced through Touma's mind and sent a shiver through his spine.
"District 24 was nearing completion despite its massive size at about 121.5 square kilometers, or just under 47 square miles, with only a few facilities still under construction. However as of yesterday at 9:31a.m., the entirety of District 24 along with a few dozen square kilometers outside its perimeter were completely annihilated, as in anyone there at the time of the catastrophe had absolutely no chance of survival."
Tsuchimikado pulled out his phone and proceeded to show Touma pictures from the briefing he had received. Stiyl pulled out a cigarette and lit it, presumably he had already been briefed and seen the devastation, though from the look on his face seeing the pictures once before didn't make it any easier this time around. What Touma was seeing was pure, unadulterated devastation on a massive scale surpassing most known Weapons of Mass Destruction.
"What could have caused this? Is it a new type of large-scale weaponry? Or did some sort of experimental tech' malfunction?" Touma asked frantically.
"Remember how I said there was bad news and worse news? Well this is the part where it gets worse. Not to sound cliché here, but all that damage you see there wasn't caused by something, but rather someone. We don't know who or exactly how yet, but what we do know is that there was biological as well technological research going on in District 24, and from what we can tell the epicenter of whatever force annihilated it was just above the primary biological research facility. In addition to that there are massive gravitational distortions across the entire area. Whether these are the cause or the aftermath of whatever destroyed District 24, we don't know, but it's our job to find out."