Okay, everyone, this is my first attempt at a Teen Titans fanfic. Hopefully this will be the first installment in a series of 'The Life Heroic' stories. Go easy on me! And naturally, I don't own the Teen Titans.

That said, I proudly present to you...

The Life Heroic

Book 1: A Night At The Opera

Chapter 1: Praeludium

Aqualad walked over to the table and sat down with his tuna sandwich across from Robin. Speedy had taken on Beast Boy playing Super Land Racer 4, and was soundly beating him, much to their chagrin.

"So how on earth did the Titans East tower get so much damage?" Robin asked incredulously. Spread in front of him were pictures, showing the tower in question with one end of the T shaped tower blown off and massive damage to the rest of the framework.

"Well, it's interesting. God bless Mas y Menos for trying to learn English on their own, but they mistook the launch button on the T-plane for the word lunch. We were lucky. The contractors say they can repair the damage in a month and the doctors say Mas y Menos will be out of the hospital in about the same time."

Robin arched a masked eye and looked back down at the pictures. "Wow. Well, help yourselves to the guest rooms, naturally. I'll see if I can't call in a favor with Batman and have him do a few patrols down there."

"That would be nice. Things have been almost peaceful since Brother Blood left town. It's nice to get away for a while and visit you guys, even if it is under these circumstances." Aqualad started eating his sandwich and looked around. "One big family."

At that point Cyborg entered, Bumblebee close at his heels. They were discussing, strike that…arguing, about the rims that Cyborg wanted to put on the T-car.

"Look, Sparky, you're planning on blowing how much on something so cosmetic? That car gets banged up every time you take it out on a mission so why do you need custom rims?"

"Why? Why, you ask? That's my baby and those rims would make her the hottest thing on the road. No questions asked! And don't call me Sparky!" Cyborg turned and walked towards the kitchen, the argument continuing.

Robin looked blankly out the window towards the ocean and beyond. "Yes. Family. One big, dysfunctional family." He sighed. "Any more tuna?"

Aqualad nodded.

"Titans, GO!"

Robin's command set forth a flurry of activity on all sides. The blue burst of Cyborg's sonic cannon and a barrage of energy arrows rained down on the three HIVE students from behind him. Starfire rose above the group, firing green starbolts down at them. The plan was to back them up, away from the Jump City opera house and back towards the old pier where Raven, Beast Boy, Bumblebee, and Aqualad were waiting to flank them.

It was working fine until Mammoth knocked in a door to a warehouse and the three ran inside. The three titans followed close behind them to flush them out, leaving Starfire to advise the others on what was happening. Once inside the warehouse, the titans split up, weaving carefully between the boxes.

Speedy held his bow with energy arrow drawn, the soft yellow glow serving to illuminate the ground just ahead of him. He walked slowly, keeping his eyes and ears open. A soft rustling sound behind him caused him to whip around quickly, only to reveal a rat scurrying around some crates. Speedy sighed and turned back around, only to be confronted by a small, pink haired girl. She considered him for a second with pink, catlike eyes.

"You're one of those east titans, aren't you?" She said softly, her hands starting to illuminate the surrounding crates with a pink glow.

Speedy nodded. "Yeah, Speedy. You're Jinx, aren't you?"

She nodded, her eyes narrowing. "I'm going to beat you like a redheaded stepchild."

Speedy cocked his head to the side slightly, a look of mild confusion crossing his masked face. "Hey…I resemble that remark."

Now it was Jinx's turn to look confused. She regarded the tall redhead for a second then smiled, eventually laughing softly. Speedy liked the sound and soon found himself joining in. Their eyes met for just a split second and held, they both sighed. Then they fought.

Jinx cast her hexes towards Speedy just as he fired his arrow at her; both rolled to the side causing the other attack to miss. Instead, the attacks hit the support beams behind them. The beams collapsed and there was a very loud groaning sound from above followed by the sound of breaking glass and rending metal.

"Guys, get out of here now, this place is coming down!" Speedy called into his communicator, immediately taking off for the doorway ahead of him. He looked to his side and saw Jinx running just as fast. He looked back toward the door for just a second and then heard her cry out. Turning around, he saw that a piece of falling glass had struck her in the leg, which was now bleeding freely. Jinx lay on the ground, a look of fear in her teary eyes.

Speedy turned around and ran back to her. He grabbed the tiny witch and carried her as he ran towards the door. "It'll be fine, it'll be okay." He held the frightened witch close as he dodged falling beams and shattered crates. He cleared the doorway right as the main support bracings gave way. The roof collapsed completely and hit the ground hard, shattering the pier below. Speedy felt himself falling and threw his cargo ahead of him. He was satisfied to see her land safely ahead of him on the wood of the pier before he fell into the dark water below.

"Well, that sucked…" Speedy was wrapped in a blanket and had a cup of coffee, both provided by the Jump City police.

Robin nodded. "No kidding. All that and I can't believe they still got away."

Cyborg looked up, he had been concentrating on putting his left leg back on. "Hey, at least you guys made it out before that warehouse collapsed. Count yourself lucky."

Their discussion of luck was interrupted by a small man; he walked through the police line and came up to them. "Excuse me, titans, but my name is David Meyer and I am the director of the Jump City Opera. We wanted you all to have these VIP box seat tickets to opening night next week in thanks for protecting the opera house." He smiled and held out an envelope.

Robin took the envelope and looked inside. "Ummm…thank you. What's the production?"

"The Mastersingers of Nuremberg."

Speedy perked. "Sweet! We have to go. It's a good opera."

Aqualad walked over, a cup of coffee in his hands, too. "What's it about?"

"Simply put, the guy wants the girl but in order to marry her he has to win a master singing contest. He tries to learn the rules, fails, but when it comes time for him to sing, he sings from his heart and sings so well that he wins and gets the girl. It's a nice little story."

Aqualad shrugged. "I'm in."

Robin nodded and turned to the opera director. "A little culture would do us some good, thank you."

Mammoth and Gizmo waited outside the headmistress' office, they were waiting for Jinx to get out of the infirmary before they went in. Soon enough, the door from the hall opened and Jinx hobbled in on crutches, her left leg heavily bandaged. She glared at the other two.

"Not one word…" She threatened.

Gizmo put up his hands in surrender and stood up. Together the three of them walked into the headmistress' office. Before they even reached the three chairs in front of her desk, they were already being berated.

"I'm going to pretend that the Titans didn't defeat you this time. I'm going to ignore that completely. But what excuse do you have for putting the opera house in danger?" She didn't bother to wait for their response. "No excuse at all. Since the Titans defeated Slade we haven't had the financial resources to restore the arts department at the academy. Blood didn't help out in that regard, either. I see now what a mistake it has been, even as villains you have to respect the arts. So I have a new assignment for you."

Jinx paled. "An assignment? I can barely walk, let alone go on a mission or fight!"

The headmistress sighed. "No, not that kind of assignment. You three are to go to the opera on opening night and then write a ten page report on it. That will be next Friday, so I want it on my desk by Monday morning. You'll receive a mission briefing, tickets, and a dispensation from the academy coffers for suitable formalwear. That is all."

The three students rose quietly and walked towards the door in shock, none more so than Gizmo. In the hall he just stood still, staring straight ahead.

"Why do we have to go to the cruddy opera? This is going to suck!"

Jinx winced. "I don't care. I need to get off this leg."

Mammoth smiled, however. "I get to wear a tuxedo…"