He smirked as he snuck off into the cloudy night on his electric scooter. Henry Stickmin had done it again. Another heist pulled off magnificently - the gemstone was in his grasp, away from the stuffy confines of the museum.

Its worth in money alone convinced Henry to steal it. And he wanted to grow his collection beyond the Tunisian Diamond, Romanian Ruby and Norwegian Emerald. A pretty pink gemstone added a certain pizzazz to the collection the others did not: a combined layer of mystique and fun. Fantasies swirled in his mind as he thought about how his new prize would look in his house as soon as he found a place for it. Luckily, the gem was slightly smaller in size and lighter in weight so the task of carrying it was made manageable compared to the other jewels. The basket attached to his scooter was a blessing accompanied with extra attachments built to hold the basket and the item inside up with no difficulty.

But little did he know he was in for a surprise with the Pink Panther Diamond.

The moon appeared from the clouds, giving Henry a natural source of light to guide him as he reached the city limits. But as the moonlight reflected off of the gem, something most peculiar happened. Rather than bouncing off the gem, expected of the laws of light and shadow, the moonlight pierced the gem into its core. A ball of light formed and expanded in mass, overtaking the gem. Henry had to look away and close his eyes due to its intensity. Unfortunately, this also meant he couldn't watch the road or its dangers, like that of a small rock about to send a thief, a scooter and a stunning diamond tumbling down. And it did.

"Oof!" Henry fell off the scooter, and all three flew all in different directions like panicked birds in a flock. The shrill whine of the scooter died as it crashed onto its side. Its dazed owner landed face first into the street. He lay there on the concrete as he slowly recovered from the pain. And the ringing of his ears.

Wait... his ears weren't ringing. There was a twinkling bell in the air. He peeked up from his spot on the ground. The ringing originated from the diamond.

The ringing and the gem's light intensified. He immediately covered his face with his arms as light and sound overwhelmed his senses. And then silence and blackness overtook him.


Seconds passed. The bell was gone, as was the massive burst of light. Deeming it safe, he cautiously peeked out from behind his arms. Darkness, pure darkness stretched in all directions. It was as if Henry took a voyage to the endless bottom of the ocean. No other creatures or things were frowned when he realized this point of fact - the Pink Panther Diamond was gone, and so was the moon and his scooter.

He slowly got to his feet. Patting himself all over, he checked himself for any other injuries. Thankfully he wasn't hurt and he didn't develop a concussion from his fall. He squinted his eyes and surveyed the environment, looking for any indication of his location. But the mere emptiness of this void, teamed with a nasty flashback to another blank void he once visited thanks to a certain teleportation device in another time and place and the fact he couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face, only served to unnerve him and fail to give a hint about the area.

"Hello?" He hated how his voice sounded soft and unsure as it echoed in this place. He was all alone. Or so he believed.

The ringing returned, and it didn't return alone. Its companion was the opposite of the light tune it sang; it bellowed a smooth series of smoke and mirrors through deep tones. Henry furrowed his brow in concentration. He held a hand to his ear and listened carefully to the music being made. There was no single unity and yet they synced each other perfectly. There was a beat he could nod his head to if this was the type of music he could get into. But Henry wasn't particularly fond of jazz - it was too out-of-place for his tastes.

A click nearby jolted him out of his observations. He quickly turned and saw a single cone of light shining down nearby from up above in the dark and illuminating his face. But the light was far from the most interesting thing to catch his eye.

It was the fantastical figure standing in the spotlight that did that.

A lanky and lean creature stood there with its back turned to him swaying to the music as if the music held the creature in its hypnosis. Roughly standing a few inches taller than Henry, the two-legged creature was covered in head to toe to tail in fur. Pink fur.

Henry did a double take. The creature possessed small round ears, a long tail and whiskers, and large feet. Henry could only guess it was a feline of some sort. As if to confirm his assumption, the creature turned around and faced the human for the first time while keeping its body in tune with the music. Large dark eyebrows, relaxed golden eyes and a long smiling muzzle bore into Henry's own eyes and face. The cat was a male. In one of his hands (hands?), it held a long, thin object - a lighter pink cigarette holder. He held it aside and gave it a few taps with a finger. Tidbits of cigarette ash fell to the ground during each touch. The creature placed the cigarette holder into his mouth and held his head high. There was no indication about the cat's exact age, but he was old enough to show a sense of class and style from another time. Long before the thief's own.

'A cat standing on two legs... and smoking. I must have hit the ground harder than I realized,' he thought to himself. He rubbed the side of his head as if to nurse the area where he hit his head after falling off his scooter.

The cat, meanwhile, calmly studied the man up and down, observing and forming his own thoughts. He was a tall and gangly fellow, with a frame so thin he was a stick. His outfit consisted of a simple black shirt, a pair of black pants, and brown shoes. He was wide-eyed and had a wide face; he looked so young he almost seemed more like a baby-faced teenager than a fully-grown adult. The cat could sense that Henry was brash and had something of a fighting spirit to him, as seen in Henry's wary stance. It was amusing to see how the youth saw themselves these days.

A snazzy saxophone flowed in the void now. Henry whipped around to scowl at the invisible instrument - the new instrument introduced was not helping. The cat paid it no mind. Still retaining the same stoic facial expression, he held up his hand and with a snap of his fingers, all darkened again. Henry gasped and immediately looked around, but the efforts were in vain. He couldn't see anything within ten feet of him.

But the area soon shooed away his fears; a soft pink glow lit the area like a nightlight. The spotlight vanished, but the cat stood there and smiled like nothing happened. As if in a duel, he and Henry stared at each other.

The cat made the first move. He took a bow like a player on the stage, further bewildering the thief. This was getting weirder by the minute. But as if the whole situation couldn't be any get stranger, the cat shuffled to Henry with a bounce in his step and put out a hand for the man to shake.

The thief paused. Well, this cat was friendly if very odd. But who was he? What was he? And where were they?

The cat raised an eyebrow, but otherwise his cool expression did not change. Leaning on one leg while folding the other over it, the cat rested one of his hands on his hips. Holding up the other, he snapped his fingers again. And then like magic, a small card with glassy text appeared out of thin air in between his fingers.

Henry slightly gaped, impressed. That was a really cool magic trick. That and him snapping the lights on and off. He made a mental note to learn those tricks. It'd probably make things happen faster for him in his adventures.

When the cat offered Henry the card, he flicked his hand as if to say 'take it'. Curious, Henry took the card.

The Pink Panther Diamond

Known as the largest pink diamond in the world, it has an unusual characteristic.
When looked at closely, a tiny flaw can be seen - a discoloration resembling a springing panther.

Henry looked back up at him with a quizzical look. The feline pointed at the card, then to himself.

At first, Henry indicated his lack of understanding with a shrug. But the cat patiently continued to point at himself and at the card, trying to help the man connect the dots. By this point, the music swelled into a full-on orchestra - trumpets, percussion, trombones and other members of the instrumental choir sung in harmony. It was surprisingly pleasant to listen to, but it wasn't helping Henry figure out why this pink cat was pointing to the text and - wait...

It hit him.

Henry quickly glanced between cat and card. A theory formed and he immediately needed to confirm it. He mirrored the Pink Panther's actions to understand; he pointed at the card, then back to the Pink Panther and then back to the card.

This cat was the real Pink Panther, as in the one the Diamond was named after?!

The Pink Panther nodded. He pulled the cigarette holder out of his mouth, and once more he put out a hand for Henry to shake.

...

This was hard to believe. A Pink Panther. The Pink Panther. A sentient pink cat with enough class to put members of the Toppat Clan to shame was a thing.

He didn't know what to make of this whole affair.

Meeting a real Pink Panther, the inspiration for the diamond, was an entirely new experience for him, and in some void that was not the result of some faulty gadget. And he was someone who performed many unbelievable acts that in normal circumstances would not be possible in any reality. This was not normal, and neither was this cat.

Henry was starting to get suspicious of this Panther. For all he knew, this panther could be setting a trap for him. After all this cat managed to retain some control over the void, given that he wasn't phased by the music and had some sort of neat reality-altering ability done with a simple snap of the fingers that Henry wouldn't mind learning himself. He'd have to watch this cat closely. He gripped the card in his hand a little too tightly, prompting Henry to realize he still had it in his hand. And to also realize that the Pink Panther hadn't attacked him yet. If he had any intent of attacking, he would have done it by now with his mysterious gifts. And he did seem truly interested in making friends with Henry. He didn't even know Henry was a thief. Besides, from what he could see, the panther was a loner with some superpower... just like him. The thought brought an amused smirk to the thief. That was something they had in common.

Maybe there was more good than bad in this situation. He could try to convince him to help him escape this empty space and get back to the diamond. It was worth a try, but he was not going to let this Pink Panther get the best of him should he turn out to be a back-stabbing traitor. Only one way to find out.

Henry took a deep breath and smiled Putting the Panther's card into the left hand and freeing his right hand, the man grasped the Pink Panther's hand. He shook it lightly and introduced himself. "Henry Stickmin."

The Pink Panther nodded again and after he returned the cigarette holder to his mouth, he gave a loose salute with the other hand.

Not much of a talker, Henry noted. Those were two things they had in common.


A/N: Improbable crossover and my first one starring Henry Stickmin, whom I have come to like as another favorite character. He's so adorable!

When I first saw the 'Jewel Baron' ending from the 'Completing the Mission' chapter in the Henry Stickmin series, my imagination immediately hopped back to a famous diamond in film and went on its own route to discover how Henry and the Pink Panther met.

Speaking of Henry, the film composer responsible for the Pink Panther's theme was Mr. Henry Mancini. The title of this piece is even a paraphrased nod to his autobiography, 'Did They Mention the Music?' I listened to the theme while writing this - jazz is class.

Enjoy!