Dark Titans – Omake Special!

What's in a name?

Author Notes (IMPORTANT re: Dark Titans updates)

Well, it has been a while since I updated Dark Titans, and for good reason. Those who have been reading the notices on my author page or elsewhere may already know that I've been busily working on a massive "Dark Titans" related side project over the last year. Everything else was put on hold.

That side project is now, finally, ready for release.

Called "Reflections Lost on a Dark Road" it is an in-continuity crossover between "Teen Titans and the Lost Boy / Dark Titans" and "The Road To Cydonia", by the eminent author, Cap'n Chryssalid. Again: it is part of the continuity of both our fanfic verses, taking place roughly two months from where TRTC and DT left off, which means that there will be a solid arc or two occurring in DT before this story actually takes place. For "The Road to Cydonia" that means it is roughly two arcs in the future from Ch33: Auribus Teneo Lupum. When we finish releasing Reflections, we will resume with the previous and succeeding arcs in both TRTC and DT.

In the meantime, here is the address for "Reflections Lost on a Dark Road" - you can consider updates in that fic to be basically updates to this one. Simply cut and paste the bit below after fanfiction dot net.

/u/2754251/

- Lathis

(alternatively, you can go to my FFN site and I'll have a hyperlink there, for those who don't want to cut/paste the link)

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't.

Ryouga caught the mock punch easily and laughed as he pushed his companion's fist back down. The playful swings they exchanged didn't slow their stride as they strolled down the hallway, the promise of some sorely needed snacks driving them onward.

"Okay, granted, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai are a pretty good combination, but I don't like the way they focus so much on the grappling," the Lost Boy stated.

"Seriously?" Robin fired back, trying to slip a quick jab under his guard and into his ribs. "I kinda like the technical aspect of the grappling. You get to see a lot of interesting counters and reversals in the Octagon."

"Maybe, but the old 'ground and pound' gets a bit tedious after awhile. I mean, when you told me about this mixed martial arts thing, I was actually expecting to see mixed martial arts, not homogenized martial arts." Ryouga let out a forlorn sigh. "I was expecting to see Shotokan guys going up against Russian wrestlers, or Special Forces guys against Sumo wrestlers. You know, normal stuff, like back home. Instead everyone is using pretty much the same hybrid style."

The masked hero shrugged absently, rolling his shoulder to slide his cape behind his back. "I guess it's just a matter of personal taste. I mean, sure, neither of us would ever actually fight that way, since it would get us fifteen kinds of dead out in the streets, but I still think it's fun to watch."

Ryouga considered that, then nodded. Taking a left at the next corner, they continued on, a straight run towards the main room of the Tower. "True enough. Trying to grapple with someone like Ranma is pretty much the definition of insanity, but can you imagine trying to wrestle someone a thousand times stronger than you? I don't even want to think about what it would be like to try to get into a wrestling match with Mammoth."

A sly grin slid onto the Lost Boy's lips, and he nudged the smaller martial artist in the ribs, or at least tried to, as the Boy Wonder deftly blocked the not-actually-an-attack. "Though, in your case, I bet you imagine 'grappling' with Starfire all the time, don't you?"

"Hey!" The red that burned onto the hero's face could have just as easily been from anger as it was embarrassment, but either option was just as funny. "You better not joke around like that when anyone else is around. Don't think I won't turn the tables on you, Hibiki. I doubt you want me making those kinds of comments about you around Raven."

Ryouga just eyed his comrade incredulously. "Are you joking? If you said something like that around Raven, she'd probably destroy you before I even had the chance to."

Robin lifted a hand and scratched his chin, obviously reflecting on his idea. "Hmm, you raise a valid point. This stuff is annoyingly complicated, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh, you have no idea. Just thank goodness that you only have on girl to worry about… and that your name isn't Ranma, for that matter." Ryouga chuckled to himself. "Though, the last one is also just a matter of preference. It's just a terrible name."

Laughing quietly, and shaking his head in obvious amusement, Robin opened up the door to the main room and led them in. As usual, the room was bustling with activity. Cyborg and Kasumi were in the kitchen, the latter watching helplessly as the former took on the role of head chef for the day. The look of pride on Cyborg's face was a stark contrast to the expression of… hell, if it had been anyone else in the world, he would have called it 'envy', on Kasumi's. Sometimes that woman, as wonderful as she was, made no sense to Ryouga at all. Sure, he could cook when he needed to, but he certainly had no love for the craft.

Learning how to order pizza had probably been the greatest technique he'd ever learned.

Sitting, curled up at the far end of the couch, her legs tucked under her and her hood pulled back to reveal her deep violet eyes, Raven was reading a book. Well, 'tome' was probably more apt for what she was holding in her hand, the thick, leather bound collection of pages was probably older than the city itself. Intent on her endeavour, the dark Titan casually lifted a hand and licked her finger, then proceeding to turn the page.

For reasons he wasn't quite comfortable contemplating, Ryouga felt himself blush as he studied Raven, and quickly forced himself to look away, just in case she caught him staring.

The rest of the Titans were nestled at the center of the long, semi circular couch, apparently quite engrossed in something. Starfire was sitting off to one side, giggling gaily and clapping her hands gleefully as she watched Beast Boy and Terra, who were both sitting cross legged on the couch and facing each other directly, a good foot or two between them. Staring at the setup curiously, Ryouga took a step closer to figure out just what it was the pair of munchkins were up to…

"Alright, how about this? …What's your favourite ice cream?"

Terra leaned forward at the question, her brow scrunching up cutely and the tip of her tongue peeking out as she was obviously wracked in concentration. A second later, she straightened her back and held up an excited hand in exclamation.

"Rocky Road!"

Beast Boy rocked back on his seat, and Starfire joined him in excited laughter. The sight of everyone involved breaking out into such merriment over such a simple revelation only made the Lost Boy even more curious. Deciding to investigate, he made his way over to the couch. He noticed that Robin was joining him, though the masked hero's attention was set in a markedly different direction than Ryouga's own.

Leaning forward again, Beast Boy adopted a fiendish look and pointed at the geokinetic girl with a gloved finger. "And your favourite game?"

"Hmmm… I know! It's Rock, Paper, Scissors!"

The outburst of mirth that followed again puzzled the Hibiki, and even worse, even Robin was chuckling, having jumped over the back of the couch to sit next to Starfire. Not only was the idea of finding a simple answer to a simple question hilarious pretty darn weird, but Ryouga was pretty sure that Terra's favourite game was actually Super Ninja Fury 4. Lord only knew that she utterly destroyed him whenever she managed to talk him into playing that accursed game.

Honestly, he was still having flashbacks of the infamous 'Halo Massacre' from a month or two ago. You couldn't even whisper the name Nujiézú without sending Cyborg onto a half hour rant.

"Alright, try this one on for size," Beast Boy stated, victory in his voice. "What's your favorite animal?"

This inquiry gave the diminutive blonde a moment's pause; she pulled her knees up to her chest and rocked back and forth, thinking hard. And then a wide smile split her face and she let out an excited chirp.

"It's… a pterodactyl!"

"Ha! I totally got you there," Beast Boy crowed, pumping his fist into the air. "That totally doesn't count."

"What? It so does," Terra barked petulantly.

As one, both of the young teens spun around, to Raven of all people. The reading girl gave no sign of acknowledging their existence, just continued to flip through the pages of her book.

"Well?" the changeling asked expectantly.

"Yeah, Raven," Terra echoed, "That totally counts, right?"

Finally, Raven looked up, a bored expression on her face. She spared a moment to glance at Beast Boy, then Terra in turn, before looking up and tapping her chin in thought. "Pterodactyl… pterodactyl… hmm. I'll allow it."

Beast Boy's anguished whine, dropping his face into his hands, was mirrored by Terra's victorious cheer, pumping her fists into the air.

"Oh, come on! That doesn't even make sense! What game are you watching, ref?"

Terra leaned forward and punched the changeling in the shoulder. "Doy, Beast Boy. Think about it. 'Terra'-dactyl?"

"Oh-ohhhh… I still don't get it…"

The bubbly blonde rolled her eyes fondly. "Oh, Beast Boy…"

"Okay, that's enough!" Ryouga couldn't take it anymore. Throwing his arms up into the air, he glared at everyone present. "What the heck is going on? What on earth is so funny?"

His outburst finally caught the attention of everyone, and the gathered Titans looked his way. Beast Boy waved first. "Oh, hey Ryo, didn't see ya there. What's up, dude?"

"Certainly not my comprehension levels. What are you guys laughing about?"

Bouncing up onto her knees, Terra leaned over the back of the couch and grasped his hand tightly in hers before pulling him closer. Smiling up at him, her eyes all but sparkling as she looked up at him, she pulled him down to sit on the back of the couch. "Ryouga, you totally have to play! It's a super hero game that Beast Boy taught me! It's kind of a name game!"

"A name game?" he asked dubiously as he adjusted himself more comfortably onto the hard backing of the couch.

"Oh yeah," Robin replied, waving a hand non-chalantly. "It goes way back. Basically, someone thinks of a question, and you have to think up a reply that somehow relates to your codename."

"Yeah!" Beast Boy added excitedly. Leaping up to his feet, the changeling pointed across the room to Cyborg. "Like this. Yo, Cyborg! What's your favourite song!"

Not even bothering to look up from the pan of quickly browning ground beef before him, Cyborg barked over his shoulder, as if by rote, "Machinehead, by Bush!"

"See?" Robin asked offhandedly, "It's pretty darn easy."

"Easy for most people," Raven amended cattily, not looking up from her book. "Beast Boy there flunked on his first question. Not even I am generous enough to let him get away with 'vegetarian pizza'."

Ryouga found himself grinning at that. "You're the most generous person I know, Raven."

The pale Titan's face scrunched up cutely at that, obviously unable to decide whether to be flattered or not by the loaded statement. So instead of doing either, she just eyed him warily… for a moment at least, before her expression softened and she graced him with a shy smile. The smile lasted shorter, before she suddenly remembered they were in a room full of nosey neighbours, and she quickly looked down at her book, doing her best to ignore her flushed cheeks.

Ryouga shifted his gaze away quickly as well, only to give his head a shake and turn back to Beast Boy and Terra. "Well, I think I get the gist of it. Sounds kind of fun, actually." He turned to Robin. "What about you? You ever play?"

"Ha! Are you kidding?" Beast Boy interrupted. "Robin's, like, the master!"

Turning to the Boy Wonder, Beast Boy held up a hand and counted off three fingers. "Robin. Band, book, movie."

Leaning back lazily into the couch, Robin spread his arms out across the back of the couch (incidentally laying his arm behind Starfire's shoulders) and replied without missing a single beat.

"The Birds, the Birds, and… the Birds."

In an instant, everyone native to the country, as well as Raven, broke into various levels of mirth – howling laughter on the Beast Boy end of the scale, and a mild twist of the lips on the Raven end – leaving a few unfortunate foreigners to be left drawing blanks at the rapid fire pop culture references.

"You see? The guy is legendary!"

"Oh come on," Cyborg objected from the kitchen, "The guy has a bird name. I mean, how hard can it possibly be for him to come up with stuff? Heck, him and Raven could give the same answers to everything and get away with it… well, if Raven ever did anything but ref, anyway."

Robin chuckled at that. "Hey, don't blame me for having a nice, Iconic name, here. It's not my fault that when people think of 'Cyborgs', they mostly think of Johnny Five from Short Circuit."

"Dude! Low blow! Low blow!"

Again, everyone burst into laughter… excepting Ryouga, Kasumi and Starfire.

"You know, I'm starting to see how this game could be lost on people that didn't grow up here," Ryouga muttered grumpily. It had seemed amusing when Terra had been doing it, but all of these references he didn't get…

"No way, dude," Beast Boy jumped in. "You're just over thinking it. It doesn't matter what you're talkin' about, just whether it sounds like it has something to do with your name!"

"I don't know… I'm not sure that Kasumi or me could really play," the Lost Boy replied dubiously.

Looking up at hearing her name spoken, the eldest Tendo sister glanced in their direction. "I'm afraid it's true. I don't really have a codename, and I think it would be difficult to think of things as quickly as you all seem to."

Rising to her feet, she took one last quick look at Cyborg's impending meal, before strolling over to join them. As she did, Beast Boy waved off her concerns easily.

"No way! It's super easy, Kasumi. I mean, if I asked you what your favourite movie is, you could just say… hmm-" Beast Boy snapped his fingers in a 'eureka' moment, "You could say 'The Mist'!"

Ryouga chuckled out loud at that, for more reasons than one. Around the room, there was a cruel reversal, where only Kasumi and Starfire joined him in mirthful laughter, while everyone else looked on in stunned confusion.

"What? I don't get it," Terra admitted, sounding a bit annoyed.

Robin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Kasumi answered in the changeling's stead, before leaning forward and planting a chaste kiss on his forehead, "That Garfield is an incredibly sweet young man."

Even as the shape shifter began blushing furiously, much to Terra's chagrin, Cyborg stomped over, abject shock on his face. "Hey, whoa hey! What's goin' on here? What did the grass stain say that got him the old 'peck on the cheek'?"

Dropping a hand on Beast Boy's back, Kasumi beamed a bright smile, nearly dazzling half the room. "Oh my, it's nothing too extravagant. He just showed a surprising amount of interest is all."

Terra nearly squawked at that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

It was Ryouga's turn to drop a hand on Terra's head, and he ruffled the girl's long hair mercilessly. Driving the girl down into the seat cushions, he laughed in amusement. "It means that Beast Boy actually went to the trouble to find out something about Kasumi, isn't that right, Star?"

"Quite so!" the Tamaranian exclaimed joyously. "Likely through gratuitous use of the 'Google', he has discovered that, in your English, the name Kasumi translates as 'misty'."

"Wow, Beast Boy actually went out of his way to learn something? Wait, are we all certain that this isn't some alien pod person in disguise?" Raven asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

The changeling spun on her, sticking his tongue out fiercely at the robed Titan. "Shows what you know! Just cuz I actually take an interest in people and you don't."

Raven's eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. "Was… that supposed to be some form of comeback?"

"I'll show you-"

Only the selfless heroism of Terra, leaping forward and wrapping her arms around Beast Boy to pull him back onto the couch, prevented the green teen from leaping across the couch, likely to certain doom. Sitting him back down, she offered him a winning smile. "Come on, Beast Boy. No fighting with Raven, she's the ref, after all. Now why don't we get back to the game? I know! We should see if we can think of anything for Ryouga!"

Instantly, the Hibiki's danger senses kicked into full gear, and he took a few steps back, holding his hands out before him in a warding gesture. "No, no, that's alright. You guys can just keep on going. I don't really like being put on the spot like that…"

"Ho ho ho! That's super easy," Cyborg declared, clapping a hand to Ryouga's back, sending him staggering forward a step. "Ryo's favourite show is totally gotta be Lost!"

"What!"

Giggling shamelessly, Terra joined in. "Oh, oh! I bet his favourite movie is 'Lost in Translation'!"

"Terra…"

"Well, his favourite band just has to be 'Blues Traveler'," Robin added, trying to suppress a chuckle.

"Not you too!"

At that, Raven rose to her feet, a stern expression on her face. Planting her fists firmly on her hips, she lanced each of the offenders with a heated stare. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Teasing our friend like this, and with such obvious references, too."

Ryouga let out a sigh of relief. "Thank y-"

"After all, it's obvious that his favourite book is 'Paradise Lost'."

"Oh yeah! Literary burn, nice one, Rae!" Beast Boy leapt up, looking for a high five, only to be sadly deprived.

Ryouga just glared at the young woman, matching the gaze of her soft, violet eyes. "You are aware that I can kill a person ten different ways with just my thumb, right?"

She matched his glare with a ghost of a smile, her head tilting cutely to the side. "I do. I also know that you never would, so where does that leave us?"

Beast Boy's uproarious laughter drew the Lost Boy's attention away from Raven, and he slapped Ryouga on the shoulder. "Uh oh, everyone!" the changeling cried in mock terror. "Looks like Ryouga is losing his temper!"

Lift a fist, his fingers clenching until they creaked like old leather, the Hibiki fired a death glare at the emerald shape changer. "Keep it up, BB, and you might just lose your head."

For a second, Beast Boy had the good grace to look a bit worried, but unfortunately Ryouga wasn't able to maintain his scowl for more than a few seconds himself, and they both quickly dissolved into laughter. Shaking his head helplessly, Ryouga looked around. "Okay, so are we all done with mocking the sad little Lost Boy, or do you need a few more minutes?"

Robin lifted a hand. "I think I might have a few more go-oof!"

Only to have the air blasted out of his lungs by Starfire's dainty elbow. Ignoring the human as he slowly collapsed into her lap, wheezing all the way down, she donned her own cheerful smile and nodded exuberantly. "Yes, friend Ryouga. We are all most certainly done with the unkind referencing of your directional dilemma."

"Yeah, yeah – No, wait!" Beast Boy's sudden statement drew a wary glare from Ryouga, but the changeling leapt up onto the couch and spun on him before he had a chance to say anything. "This just made me realize a gross oversight we've been making!"

"Huh?" Ryouga replied, echoed by a few others around the room.

"Can't any of you see it?" the shape shifter asked incredulously. Pointing pointedly at the Lost Boy, Beast Boy continued. "We haven't given Ryo a super hero name yet! No wonder he can't think of anything for the name game!"

Robin started at the revelation. "I… hadn't even thought about that." He gave Ryouga a quick look over. "Not just that, but we haven't even got a costume for you yet, either. We can't exactly have you walking around in street clothes if you're going to be fight crime with us."

"Hey now… Hold on just a minute there," Ryouga said in a worried tone. "There's no need to worry about crazy things like costumes and codenames and stuff. I'm fine just the way I am."

He tried to take a step back, only to have a titanium hand drop onto his shoulder, clamping him firmly in place. The squeaked 'eep' he let out was hopefully inaudible across the room.

"Now, now," Cyborg started in a laidback voice. Guiding the Lost Boy back to the couch, the cybernetic teen grinned evilly as he continued. "I think we're pretty far past due for this as it is. After all, we did go through all the trouble of overlooking the usual initiation stuff that you were supposed to go through to join the team."

"Hey! I thought we were just delaying that?" Beast Boy barked unhappily.

"Initiation? I don't remember any initiation…" Terra muttered under her breath.

Robin, for his part, nodded sagely. "Yes, Cyborg is right, Ryouga. You're well past due for a proper codename. Hmm… I don't know what it could be, though… something related to martial arts, maybe?"

"Oh, we should totally call him 'The Traveller'! Or maybe, 'The Wanderer'," Beast Boy offered up excitedly.

"Hey! I thought we were done making fun of the direction thing already!"

"Yeah, yeah, sheesh, so touchy!" With that, Beast Boy dropped his chin into an upraised palm. "Hmm, now that I'm actually thinking about it, though, this is tough. I mean, look at you-"

For emphasis, Beast Boy gestured at Ryouga, waving his arm up to point from his head to his toes. "I mean, there's nothing that stands out about you. No flash, no pizzazz! You look like you just walked in off the street. I mean, is there even anything appealing about you to work with?"

For some reason, across the room, Raven suddenly found her shoes utterly fascinating, turning her face down so far that Ryouga could hardly even see the bright flush on her cheeks. Equally confusing was the way that Starfire looked up at him, a smoky look in her eyes as she rested her chin on upraised palms. Even Terra was only peeking at him out of the corner of her eye, her face looking a little flushed as well.

He sure hoped that the young geokinetic wasn't coming down with a flue. He'd just come up with a great new idea for training for her. It would be a shame if they had to delay it.

Roughly as observant as Ryouga himself was, Beast Boy blithely ignored the unusual reactions as he hopped up over the back of the couch and began to pace around Ryouga. Scratching his chin, the changeling observed Ryouga from every angle as he continued to circle him. "Tricky… tricky. And nothing is popping into your head either, Ryo?"

"I'm afraid not," he replied quickly. Sure, everyone else here seemed perfectly suited to their codenames… heck, he didn't even know some of their real names at all, but it seemed like it would be really awkward if everyone started referring to him by something different all of a sudden.

"I think you're overlooking something quite obvious, Garfield," Kasumi stated, out of the blue. Even as Beast Boy cringed at the use of 'his' real name – it seemed odd to Ryouga, that his friend's real name was more foreign than the moniker of 'Beast Boy' – the tall brunette glided over and placed a gentle hand on Ryouga's shoulder. Then, as if she was showing off a prize horse, she lifted his top lip and pointed to the oversized canine's that were hidden away in his mouth.

"Ryouga's canines are quite distinctive, wouldn't you say? Maybe you could do something with that?"

"Hey! You're right!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "He's got a good set of fangs going there. Maybe we should name him Vampire Man, or something!"

"No. Just no," Raven decreed in a voice that brooked no argument.

"No, eh? Hmm, how about we just name him 'Fang', then? That sounds pretty ominous."

Kasumi nodded slowly. "Hmm, that is quite ominous. Perhaps too much? He is supposed to be a hero, isn't he?"

"Oh, and we already have someone named Fang," Robin reminded them from the couch. At Ryouga's inquiring glance, the Boy Wonder just shuddered. "Giant spider head… don't ask."

"Yeah… you're right there, Robin. But Kasumi is right, the fangs are a good start. Maybe we should name him 'Kung Fu Death Fang'!"

"Hey! I don't want to be named that!" Ryouga barked in protest. "Not only is it way too wordy, but everyone is gonna think I'm a villain again!"

Kasumi nodded sagely, staring at the changeling and Lost Boy passively. "Perhaps something less negative? After all, Ryouga is a good person, isn't he? Shouldn't his name reflect that?"

All around the room, everyone nodded in agreement-

Except for Starfire, who started suddenly. For a moment, she lifted a hand as if to say something, but lowered it a moment later, instead using it to cover her lips as she giggled silently to herself.

Beast Boy, for his part, nodded as well. "Yeah, you're right. Hmm… 'Hero Fang'? 'Cool Fang'? Naw… that doesn't work…"

"Maybe you're over thinking it?" Kasumi asked innocently. "Simple is always better, isn't it?"

The changeling nodded, still deep in thought. "Yeah… yeah… keep it simple. Ryo is a good guy, and he's got a good pair of fangs… good guy… good fangs…. good guy…"

Ryouga rolled his eyes, but did his best to stop from snickering as Kasumi rolled her wrist behind Beast Boy's back, silently urging the young hero to reach the obvious conclusion more quickly.

"I know! We'll call him Good Fang! That covers all the bases pretty well, right?"

Holding a hand up to cover her mouth, Kasumi let out a silent gasp. "Oh my, that's so clever, Garfield! I think that suits Ryouga just perfectly."

It was all that Ryouga, and Starfire for that matter, could do not to explode in laughter. Both Robin and Raven eyed them oddly, but were obviously having trouble divining the reason behind their madness. Terra, on the other hand, nodded slowly, eyeing Ryouga carefully.

"Hmm… yeah, that kind of works. It's not too bad… but it's kind of missing something."

Beast Boy nodded instantly. "You know, I think you're right. It's a bit too on the nose, too obvious. It needs… I dunno… something."

Still smiling as innocently as a babe, Kasumi tilted her head to the side, as if examining Ryouga for some deeply hidden secret. "You know… Ryouga is Japanese… maybe…"

"That's it!" Beast Boy leapt up, pumping his fist excitedly into the air! "We can use the Japanese version of 'Good Fang'! It'll be perfect! It'll explain who he is, but it'll be all mysterious, cuz no one will know what it means unless they go look it up!"

Robin shrugged. "Well, I guess that works for me." He stared awkwardly at Starfire, who was currently holding her hands over her mouth, her face as red as a tomato, but shook his head and turned back to the matter at hand. "Japanese 'Good Fang' seems pretty fitting."

Ryouga held in his snickering.

"Well, then," Raven asked impatiently. "None of us speak Japanese here. So what do we call you, already?"

Unable to hide his smile, Ryouga struck a heroic pose, planting his hands on his hips and turning to a dramatic forty five degree angle.

"You can call me..." he stated loudly and proudly-

"Ryouga!"