Steven, in his quest, searching for his magical gem destiny, discovered a giant, magical key, after Lion had thrown it up on his bed. He tried it on all the possible locks he could think of, even himself at one point, but all for naught. Finally, he turned to his pet lion, hoping that since he had the key in the first place, he'd know where it came from and where it goes to. So, after teleporting to the dessert and traveling for miles and hours, almost succumbing to heat stroke along the way, Lion finally stopped and Steven saw the ruins of what had to be an old gem temple, with a large door with a giant keyhole in front of him, the only place the key could possibly go to. "This is it? Couldn't we have just warped here?" He asked his magical pet breathlessly, reaching into his mane pocket dimension and pulling out a bottle of water, taking in a much needed drink, before approaching the door.
He stopped in front of it, giving it a long, hard look before speaking. "Whatever's behind this door. I know it's something important." He said, looking at the key in his hands, before inserting it in the door and turning it. "Please tell me my destiny." He pleaded, before pushing open the door. His heart immediately sank when he saw the temple was destroyed on the inside, the only things around were many old, random and broken down items. He picked up a sheathed katana beside the door and drew it, only to find that the blade had broken off. Tipping the sheath upside down, the rest of the blade fell out. "What?" He asked, confused, looking around. "Is this just... Rose's trash dump?" He asked, looking down as a lizard crawled to his feet, before Lion began chasing it away.
"No... Please..." He pleaded heartbroken, desperately searching for anything that could be important. "there was supposed to be something here to tell me my purpose! This is just a bunch of garbage mom left behind!" He snapped, his sadness turning to anger as he kicked away some kind of helmet into the distance, before looking down and uncovering something beneath it. He pulled it from the sand, revealing it to be a video tape, turning it on its side to ind a label titling it: "For Nora". "This is... Another videotape from Mom?! But... W-who's Nora?" He asked.
Meanwhile... On a distance planet...
A young boy groaned as he started to wake up, his eyes drifting open and closed to reveal a girl with orange hair and turquoise eyes standing over him, staring at him, leaning back happily as he finally woke up. "Wake up, Lazy Butt!" She said, disappearing for a moment as the boy, Lie Ren, sat up, Nora then popping up in several different places behind him. "~It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! IT'S MORNING~!" She said in sing-song as she popped up around him.
Back to Steven...
"Am I not the only one? Do I have a sister?!" He wondered unsure of what to make of this. Once again, he hurried to his magic pet for the answer. "Lion! What is this?! Who's Nora?!" Steven asked. However, Lion was naturally lazy and already annoyed with his master for taking him out this far. This was already more exercise than Lion normally does in a week and Steven was asking even more of him now. He looked away from Steven in and minor anger and annoyance. Steven sighed and looked down for a moment, before looking back to his companion. "I know I've asked a lot from you today, but please. Just one more time. I need your help. I need to figure out what this tape means." He pleaded, dropping to his knees and clinging to the pink predator's front left leg. "I won't get mad the next time you throw up on my bed." Steven tried with a smile, which was apparently enough to get the big cat to comply.
Appearing in the middle of the road from a Warp Portal, Steven recognized he where he was. "This is somewhere near Beach City." He said, looking back at his pink pet. "Lion, are you sure this is the right-" He started, before he heard music coming from a nearby hill. "Nora." He said, hurrying up the hill, seeing a figure at the top.
At first, all he saw was long, brown hair. However, instead of the mysterious Nora he was expecting, the figure spun around, revealing itself to be Steven's father, Greg, "Oh, hey, Shtoo-ball." He asked.
"Dad?! You're Nora?!" Steven asked, somewhat deflated.
"Who?" His father asked, confused.
"What are you doing here?" Steven asked, walking up to his Dad's van as the older Universe took a seat in the back.
"Getting some songs figured out. This is sort of my jamming hill." He explained, strumming on his guitar. "Used to be a tree by the warehouse, but a 7th grader with a flute muscled me out." He further explained.
"Uh... Yeah..." Steven said, further deflated.
"You okay?" His father asked.
"Well, I found this." Steven said, revealing the tape.
Upon seeing the tape, Greg gasped, before tears came to his eyes as he smiled, taking it from Steven. "Oh, my gosh! I never thought I'd see this again." He said.
"Of course! Come here, you should, too!" Greg said, putting the tape in his VCR in his van, him and Steven taking a seat to watch it.
At first, Steven was expecting a lot, but it turned out to be almost an exact copy of Steven's video, only with the name Nora where Steven should be. Eventually, towards the end where Rose explained she couldn't exist along with Steven or Nora, Steven stopped the video. "No, I don't understand. Why is this the same as the video you guys made me?! Who's Nora?!" He demanded.
Greg sighed as he rubbed tears from his eyes. "Steven, I probably should've told you this a while ago, but... you HAD a big sister." He said.
"What!?" Steven demanded.
"Her name was Nora. They were the two names Rose and I decided we liked for our kids. So thank goodness you weren't another girl." Greg said, before shaking his head and clearing his throat. "Your mother was stronger than even she thought, I guess. She didn't become half of Nora. When... It was time, her gem began to glow and an orb of light came from it and it took the form of a baby girl. Then, after she took form, it's like she was any other human baby, all flesh and blood, no crazy magic, no light..." He said, before stopping to think. "Well, except if she ever got cut or hurt, it would go away in like a second. Anyway, somehow, your mother's gem too it's extra strength to make a healthy baby girl without sacrificing itself or your mother. And boy, was your sister strong. When she was two and she grabbed my finger, she could lift me into the air." Greg explained.
"Then, what happened to her?" Steven asked.
Greg stopped for a moment, then sighed, tears coming from his eyes. "I wasn't there, I was working a shift at the car wash, but when I came home, your mother was crying. She told me Nora had been kidnapped by some Homeworld gems. You should ask the gems. They were there." He said.
Steven was shocked to take all of this in. At first, he was happy and excited he had an older sister, but now he was horrified that she had been kidnapped, wondering if they'd have to return to the zoo to rescue her, or if she was even still alive. Hurrying back to the temple, he quickly burst in. Luckily, all three of the Crystal Gems were in the kitchen. "Steven! What's wrong?!" Pearl asked worriedly.
Steven sighed, looking up at the gems sadly. "Guys... What happened to Nora?" He asked.
All of them were completely shocked when he uttered that name. "Wh-where did you hear that name?!" Pearl asked in shock.
"I found Mom's video tape for her, just like the one for me. My dad told me Nora was my sister, but gems kidnapped her." He said.
Garnet sighed at this. "It's true, Steven. Somehow, your mother managed to create Nora without giving up her physical form." She said.
"I already know that! But what happened to Nora?!" Steven asked.
Pearl sighed at this, using her gem to project the images as she told the story. "Unfortunately, two and a half years after her birth, another few months before you were born, a Homeworld drone had discovered Rose was still alive and the diamonds sent an assassin gem, Heliotrope." Pearl explained, projecting an image of a slender, dark green and blood red gem with her hair in pigtails, a strange scope-like device over her left eye (think: Deadshot), her right eye holding her gem. However, unlike the Ruby Steven had dubbed "Eyeball", she actually had an eye, the gem being the pupil and iris of the right eye. "However, she underestimated your mother and her gem was cracked in the process. But she thought if she couldn't defeat your mother, she'd at least break her heart by stealing her child. She managed to steal Nora before retreating on her ship. But in her condition, there's no way she made it back to Homeworld before the crack in her gem became to severe and..." Pearl stopped, everyone understanding, but not wanting to say.
"Well, they probably made it to SOME planet, right?! Maybe we could find out which one." Steven said, trying to grasp at any shreds of hope he could.
Unbeknownst to him, Peridot and Lapis were also there. Peridot had been wanting to try a new video game Steven told her about and decided to come over and do so. "Actually, that sounds somewhat familiar." Peridot said as she and Lapis came down from the upper level, the green gem using her arm enhancements to create a screen (in this story, the Crystal Gems didn't scrap Peridots limb enhancers and gave them back after she helped contain the cluster). "Yes. Roughly 17 years ago, there was indeed a mission to attempt the assassination of Rose Quartz. However, the mission failed when the assassin was injured and retreated. Shortly after the retreat, there was a distress signal emitted by the assassin's ship. However, it landed on a planet the diamonds decided unsuitable for a gem colony due to hostile wildlife and Yellow Diamond refused to send a rescue team." She explained, several pieces of information appearing on the screen too fast for the other gems to read and in the gem language, which Steven couldn't read.
"So... There's hope?!" Steven said.
"Well, as I said, the wildlife is quite hostile, but humans and another humanoid species known as "Faunus" have thrived on the planet for several hundred years, so... I'd say 50/50." Peridot said, earning her a small elbow jab from Lapis.
"W-well maybe we could use the Ruby's ship to get there!" Steven said (Also in this version, Navy did not crash on Earth and steal the ship back).
"It will require some repairs after your trip to the zoo, so I'll have to make some modifications." Peridot said.
"Please, Peridot, hurry. If my sister's still alive, she could be in danger!" Steven said worriedly.
Meanwhile...
"YEEEEHAAAAAWW!" Nora shouted as she rode an Ursai to the temple, the monster finally collapsing after one last blast from her grenade launcher to its back, causing the girl to tumble off. "Aww, it's broken." She said sadly, observing her fallen steed.
Back to Steven...
"Don't worry, Steven. I'll do everything I can. It's a promise." Peridot said.
It took a few months, due to the differences in technology Peridot had to work with, but she eventually managed to restore the ship to flying conditions. "Peridot, you did it! You're the best!" Steven cheered.
"Why, yes I am. Thank you for noticing." She said proudly.
"Maybe she should come with us this time. So we don't nearly crash and burn like last time." Amethyst said.
"It would be nice to go on another adventure. I accept." Peridot said.
"Then I'm coming, too." Lapis said, carrying a 20 gallon jug full of water on her back.
"Alright. I called Connie and she knows the situation, she said she can take care of Beach City." Steven said.
They all hurried to a seat and secured themselves to it. "Alright, everyone, buckle up! Preparing for launch! Destination: Remnant!" Peridot said, pointing to the sky, the ship taking off.
After about a day, the team finally landed on the planet known as Remnant, landing in a forest outside of town. They exited the ship. "Alright! Operation Nora Rescue is a go!" Steven said, fist pumping.
Suddenly, however, a number of large, black creatures, appearing to be humanoid wolves, with plates of white, bony armor, as well as spikes protruding from them, blood red eyes glaring daggers at the team. "How about 'Operation: Don't Die!' First!" Amethyst said, drawing her whips and lashing away one of the charging monsters.
"Aah! What are these things?!" Steven asked, drawing his shield to hold back one of the monsters, before Peridot blasted it away.
"Reports call them Grimm! Creatures that apparently only exist to attack anything that isn't them!" Peridot explained, crouching behind Steven for cover while peering out from behind him and firing at distant targets.
Pearl dodge one's attacks and swung her spear, decapitating it, watching in shock and horror as it didn't bleed and appeared to start fading away. "I don't know what these things are, but they aren't natural! They seem... Wrong!" She said, stabbing another.
"then we don't have to hold back!" Amethyst said, using her flaming roll attack, slamming into a crowd of the monsters and creating an explosion, sending them flying.
"Wasn't planning on it!" Garnet said, knocking way two at a time with each punch as a small horde stood in front of her.
"Why are these things so mad! At least the corrupted gem were just confused and scared!" Steven said, scared, cringing behind his shield, counting on Peridot to blast them away.
"I don't know! But they need to leave... My friends... Alone!" Lapis said, water emerging from the 20 gallon jug and turning into a giant hand, grabbing the monsters and smashing them into the ground.
The gems all let out small pants and sighs, having spent some energy, but deemed it was safe to stand down, exiting their battle stances and returning to normal.
Suddenly, they heard a rustling noise quickly approaching, before a number of trees crashed around them as a massive scorpion-like monster burst out of the woods in front of them. "OH, COME ON!" They all said at once, taking a stance again, before they heard an explosion noise behind them.
"Woohoo!" A girl cheered as she came flying from the woods behind them with a giant hammer. It let out a burst of energy (as far as the gems could tell), launching her forward even faster, swinging the hammer and, instead of smashing the flat end into the monster, she quickly turned it before swinging, driving its spiked back end into the monster, killing it instantly.
"WHOA!" Steven said in shock as he witnessed the girl who appeared to be human single-handedly defeat the monster in front of him. She had short orange hair and turquoise eyes. Her clothing is a mix and match of some sort, with different colors and themes. She wears a collared black vest that ends at her waist with an emblem of a hammer with a lightning bolt, can be found on the back. Under the vest are two layers of clothing, colored red and light-blue respectively. She also wore a white sleeveless top that formed a tiny heart shape between her cleavage and collarbone, with a white detached sleeve on each arm. She wore matching finger-less gloves on each hand. She sported a pink skirt that started at the waist and ended mid-thigh. Her shoes were a mix of pink and white with pink laces, displaying her emblem on their soles. She also wore armor that began in the middle of the shoulder and neck and ended by the waist.
"Ha! I win! I got the most!" The girl sang happily, doing a small dance of joy, before turning around as she saw the strange group in front of her. "Whoa. Didn't see you guys there. You look weird." She said, before looking at their spaceship, then back to them. "Whooaa, are you guys aliens?!" She asked, popping up all around them. "What planet are you from?! What do you guys eat there?! Do they have pancakes?!" She asked, appearing in front of all of them.
"Nora! Don't go rushing ahead of us like that!" Another voice said as three more figures emerged from the woods behind them. The first one was a tall teenage boy with dark-blue eyes that are emphasized by his short blonde hair messily layered on his head with the right side of his hair nearing his right eye and the left side swept back. He was quite toned, having strong muscles in his arms, shoulders and upper chest. He wore a white diamond-shaped breastplate cut off above his lower abdomen and white spaulders with vambraces set under them. Underneath the armor, he wore a black short-sleeved hoodie with detached reddish-orange sleeves and blue pants with a white patch on the left knee, as well as black sneakers with "left" and "right" written in black on the respective shoes' soles. He also had elbow guards with cords strung through them and he wore black high tops.
The next was another male teenager with long black hair tied into a ponytail that ends midway down his back. There was a magenta streak on the left side of his hair. His eyes matched the streak in his hair, and his clothing appears to be influenced by Chinese culture. He wore a dark green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat that is red on the inside, with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The trimming goes down the right side of his torso and forms a black collar. He also wore a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the suit, and light-tan pants with black shoes.
The last one was another teenage girl who wore her red hair in a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a loose ringlet, and had vivid green eyes. She also wore light-green eyeshadow around the far upper corners of her eyes. She was tall and quite muscular compared to most other human girls the gems knew of. Her top consisted of two layers. The top layer was a light-brown, strapless top split divided vertically with some bronze patterns. It is quite stiff, maintaining its shape without support; this layer also has riveting or small, round embroidery on the sides, indicating heavy stitching. The bottom layer is a low bronze V-neck. She wore an elastic, black, A-line miniskirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms. She wore a red ankle-length drapery that wrapped around her skirt. There was a small circular bronze plate by her right hip opposite two pouches with both connected to a belt. The plate bears her "shield and spear" emblem. She wore a bronze circlet headpiece that could be seen above her ear and under her bangs. A pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds hung from her circlet on thin chains. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck, and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm. Unlike the first girl, she wore armor. She had elaborate bronze greaves that start below her mid-thigh, continuing downwards into her boots and a pair of cuisses that begin mid-thigh and end slightly above her knees. She also donned a bronze bracer on top of the sleeve on her left arm, which was able to connect and disconnect from her shield easily. Her high-heeled boots are brown with bronze trim, matching her skirt and sleeves, and reach up to mid-calf.
He then noticed the... UNIQUE group in front of him. "W-whoa. Who are you guys?!" He asked.
"We're the Crystal gems!" Steven started excitedly, about to explain how they protect the Earth, but stopped when he remembered the name that the boy called the hammer wielding girl, turning to her. "Wait, did he say your name was Nora?" He asked.
Nora smirked at this and posed. "That's right! Nora Valkyrie! Awesome huntress in training!" She explained.
"You might be my sister, then!" Steven said excitedly, running up and hugging the girl, surprising all of team JNPR.
"Sister!?" They all said together.
"But, I don't have a brother, or any other family." She said, before looking up to the rest of her team, who looked slightly offended. "Oh, you know I love you guys!" She said.
"But you have to be! You look like that image I saw of her. She was kidnapped from Earth by aliens who crashed here on Remnant!" He explained.
"Aliens?" Jaune asked.
"Earth?" Pyrrha also questioned.
"Here, maybe seeing my gem will make you remember!" Steven said, lifting his shirt to reveal the reddish-pink gemstone embedded where his naval should be.
Nora looked at it closely, before her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered. She remembered a huge woman with pink hair in a white dress with a gemstone in the same place. Her mother. Looking to the others, she faintly remembered the original Crystal Gems, then remembering again the words of her mother when she was very young.
Flashback...
Nora looked up at her mother, who appeared to be both happy and sad at the same time. "Nora, I don't have much power left. The same thing that happened to you won't happen with Steven. I'll be gone when he's born, becoming half of him. You'll be his big sister, so you'll have to take care of him, Nora. Protect him and help him grow up to be someone wonderful." She said, holding her daughter close in a hug.
End Flashback...
Nora snapped back to reality, looking down at her little brother with a smile. "Steven!" She said happily, crouching down and hugging him.
"Uh... Can someone fill us in on the blanks here?" Jaune asked.
Nora looked up at her leader and smiled. "He's right, Jaune, he's my brother! My mother was an alien and, well, I'm me! But I was taken from her and the alien that took me crashed on Remnant. I was JUST old enough to survive on my own until I met Ren." She explained.
"So, who are they? Your friends?" Steven asked.
"Yep! This is Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren! And together weeeee're! Team JNPR!" She said excitedly, posing, the others joining her after a moment of confusion.
"Uh... Hi." Jaune said.
"Hello." Nora said happily.
"Nice to meet you." Ren said. "But-" He started.
"And you probably already know Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl!" Steven said, pointing the gems, who nodded or waved at their name being mentioned. "And they're Lapis and Peridot. And together, weeeee're! The Crystal Gems!" Steven said, all of them posing at once, already used to Steven's tendencies.
"But we're more like Crystal Temps." Lapis explained, gesturing to herself and Peridot.
"So, what do you want to do first?! This is our big reuniting! We have to celebrate!" Steven said.
"Well-" Nora said, thinking, before Ren stepped in the middle of the group. "Before we do ANYTHING, I feel like we need to be filled in on the story here, PLEASE." Ren said, somewhat impatiently.
"It's a good thing my arm enhancements have a similar function to my tape recorder." Peridot said, her fingers moving from her hands to make a screen, replaying the scene from earlier when the gems were explaining Nora's situation.
While they were watching the scenario, Steven and Nora began to walk away, deciding what they should do. "We've gotta do something awesome! We should have a party! With Pizza!" Steven suggested.
"Ooh, that sounds good! But maybe we could start with PANCAKES, then have pizza later!" Nora said.
"Pancakes! Awesome!" Steven said. He had a bad experience once with his together breakfast for the gems, but without the popcorn, whipped cream and strawberry, pancakes were still in his top 5 breakfast foods.
And so, the two did indeed go get pancakes, talking to each other about the differences of their planets, as well as laughing about each others eating habits. "So, you watch a cartoon about a bunch of crying food?" Nora asked, muffled by the pancake that dangled from her mouth, before she slurped it up.
Steven laughed at it. "Yeah. It sounds silly, but it's actually really funny with a lot of great messages for kids." Steven explained, before taking a giant bite from two pancakes at once, almost choking, which caused him to let out a loud belch after the food went down properly. Nora laughed at this, before letting out her own belch which shook the entire cafeteria, drawing everyone's attention, not all of it good.
"Uh... Sorry." She said with a happy shrug, earning some scowls now.
"We'd better get the pizza to go!" Steven said, the two of them grabbing the pizzas they'd gotten along with the pancakes and gunning it to Team JNPR's dorm.
Back with the others...
"And that's where we are now." Peridot added at the end of the video.
"I see. Wow, I knew Nora's story was tragic, but nothing that bad." Ren said, feeling sorry for his friend, before looking around along with his team and the gems, realizing that Steven and Nora were nowhere to be seen.
"NORA!" He shouted in annoyance.
"STEVEN!" Garnet and Pearl shouted together, equally annoyed.
With the siblings...
"You're going down, sis!" Steven said, rapidly pressing buttons on his scroll to preform combos in an attempt to outmaneuver Nora as the two furiously battled in the game Kung Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle II.
"I don't think so, LITTLE BROTHER!" She taunted, dodging of the way of an attack and delivered a powerful uppercut to Steven's character, finishing him off with a devastating juggle combo.
"Soaring Ninja wins! Total annihilation!" The announcer said.
"NOOOOOO!" Steven cried out as his character was defeated.
Nora wiped sweat from her forehead, before smiling. "Whew! That was close! For just starting to play the game, you were pretty good!" Nora said.
"I play a similar game at home. That's a lot easier, though. I usually stay back and use projectile attacks." He explained.
"Well, big sis Nora doesn't play like that!" Nora said triumphantly. She had effectively closed the distance between them while taking little damage and done her best to prevent Steven from retreating and gaining distance again.
Their next activity was heading to Beacon's auditorium for open mic karaoke night, Steven surprising the crowd by putting on a song the students had never heard, him and Nora rehearsing it their entire way there. The ever popular song on his world: "Haven't You Noticed (I'm a star)". This song was new to all the students, due to being from a different planet, but it was an immediate hit with them and they began jumping and cheering as the siblings sang.
"~Now everyone can see me burning~" They finished the song, basking in the roaring applause of the crowd.
The two later reconnected with their friends and, after apologizing for leaving them in the middle of the woods, they soon joined in on the siblings revelry and and merriment, comparing the differencs between their worlds at a few points, but mostly enjoying each other's company until late in the evening.
The group ended the day by sitting on the edge of the courtyard (think: where RWBY is at the end of Volume 2), looking out to watch the sunset. "Man, today was a great day. I got to meet my sister, her awesome friends and explore a whole new world!" Steven said excitedly.
"Yeah, it was great. Just knowing I had a brother and an old family on a DIFFERENT PLANET! And getting to spend time with them and my friends! I couldn't picture a better day." Nora said.
"Yeah." Steven said, looking back at the sunset for a moment, before turning back. "So, are you ready to go?" He asked.
"What?" All of team JNPR asked together.
"What do you mean?" Nora asked.
"Back to Earth! You're coming with us, right? We flew all this way here to get you." Steven said, suddenly feeling unsure with the look he got from his sister and her friends.
Nora looked back at her friends with a frown, before turning to Steven. "I'm sorry, Steven, but I can't go with you. I can't leave these guys." She said, the two of them looking back at her team, who smiled proudly at her.
"But... We're family. We should stay together." Steven said, shedding a tear.
Nora let out a sigh and hugged her younger brother. "We both have new family now, Steven." She said, flicking her head forward to gesture at the Crystal Gems behind Steven, who smiled at him, then back to team JNPR, who also gave a supportive smile and waved at him.
"I'm gonna miss you, Nora." He said sadly.
She wiped his tears away and poked his cheeks (with a "boop" each time, of course) to turn his frown into a smile. "And I'll miss you, too. But I'm always here if you ever need me." She said.
"But what if you need me?" Steven asked.
"I thought this might happen and prepared something for just the occasion!" Peridot said, readying her blaster on stun, everyone tensing up and trying to shield themselves, but Lapis pushed Peridot's arm down, giving her a scolding look.
"The OTHER something." She said sternly.
"Oh, fine." Peridot said, walking over to Nora and handing her a device the size of a tablet. "With my mechanical genius, I was able to engineer a device powerful enough to transmit signals and allow the Earth form of communication known as 'video chat', allowing you two to talk to each other on completely different planets! Bask in my genius!" She declared proudly.
Everyone was shocked again for a moment, but Nora soon smiled again. "Then I'll use this. And we can talk whenever we want." She explained.
"Okay then. Until next time, Nora." He said as they all got up.
"Until next time, Steven." She said, waving along with her team as the gems all walked away, waving back at them. The two groups smiled as they returned to their respective homes, knowing they had new friends... and new family.