[Geronimo] Tut. I need a story, just one story for this week's report.
Think. Think.
[gasps] Aha! I've got it.
[groans] I've got nothing.
[grumbles]
Sorry.
[gasps] Hey, that gave me an idea. The best idea since sliced cheese.
Hey! Gotta borrow some paper for a paper-airplane-making contest.
-Take what you need. -Ooh-hoo!
Great. Know where I can find a paper-airplane-making contest?
-Now, where was I? -[Thea] I need a new assignment.
-[Geronimo] Oh, yes. -Something exciting.
Not now, Thea. I'm working on maybe the biggest idea I've ever had.
-What is it now? -Guess what came in the mail, Uncle G.
Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!
-A letter? -Not just any letter.
-A letter from creepy Transratania. -Very interesting, but I'm on a deadline.
Now, everyone, please, leave me alone, so I can get back to this idea.
Oh!
What is it, Unc?
I forgot my brilliant idea. [groans]
Aah! Aah!
[grunting]
[gasps]
♪ Who's the mouse who's fun and witty Scoops the news for New Mouse City? ♪
♪ Geronimo ♪
♪ He's amazing, he's terrific Watch out, world, he's cheddarific ♪
♪ He's out of sight and in the know ♪
♪ Go ♪
♪ He's the one we call Geronimo ♪
This letter says the Stiltons are related to the Ratoff family of Transratania.
We are.
[munching noisily]
Mm-mm.
You mean I'm royalty? [laughs] Way cool.
[Thea] Count Vladimir of the Ratoff Royal Family.
-He looks a little like you, Geronimo. -Ah, it's kind of hard to read,
but it says:
"Please help us. The Ratoffs--" Something, something.
"--danger. The Stiltons are our only hope."
-Can you tell who wrote it? -It's signed, "Anonymous."
Good enough for me. We need to get to Transratania right away.
-Our family needs our help. -[Trap gasps]
Transratania? But isn't that the home of werewolves and vampires?
Exactly. This sounds like a story.
Yeah, Unc. Don't you wanna know who wrote it and why they're in trouble?
It does sound intriguing. Let me see that.
Whoever wrote it, it looks like it's signed in blood.
[all gasp]
[violin playing]
What? I started taking violin lessons.
All right. Let's go to Transratania. As long as we don't fly.
[train horn toots]
[owl hoots]
[high-pitched whirring]
Oh, you said it. I sure hope these Ratoff cousins
aren't as creepy as this place.
-It's giving me the willies. -Yeah, me, too.
Just relax. I'm sure they're just like any other family.
-[man in deep voice] Greetings. -[all gasp]
-Oh, you must be Uncle Gravis. -Welcome to...
[coughs, then clears throat]
[in normal voice] Excuse me, allergies.
Welcome to Transratania.
[Geronimo grunting]
-Thank you. -This is Nib and Viv.
Hey, I like your pet.
Thanks. His name is Max.
I have a pet, too. Gregor, come.
See? Under their quaint dress, the Ratoffs are perfectly normal.
You are so cute.
[hisses]
[chuckles] She's just shy.
Perfectly normal, huh, coz?
So they're a little different. Don't read too much into it.
Hey, here comes our new butler, Sycliff.
-[car engine humming] -Your car is ready, sir.
I won't read too much into it,
but we're riding in a car that's usually reserved for coffins.
[thunder crashes]
[Uncle Gravis] And over there is the Transratania asylum.
Down there is the haunted house district. And up that way is the forest.
The forest. That sounds nice.
Oh, it is. Transratania's forest is home
to the world's largest population of ferocious wolves.
-Oh, I just love having family here. -Yes, it's wonderful to meet relatives.
Speaking of which, do you know who sent us this?
Oh, that's the letter you mentioned. Hm.
I've never seen it before. Nib? Viv?
Nuh-uh.
[hisses]
That means no.
But someone thinks you're in danger.
-[wolves howling] -How could we be in danger?
It's a beautiful night. Wolves are howling.
Hey, what's that?
[Uncle Gravis] That's our brand-new cheese bank.
A little bit dreary for my taste.
We've been having a lot of cheese robberies lately.
So, they built this bank,
and now the whole town deposits cheese there.
[hisses]
She says it's absolutely burglar proof.
I'll be going later to make a big withdrawal.
[Geronimo] Why so many robberies?
Cheese is widely available. Why bother stealing it from a bank?
Oh, obviously you don't know about our Monster Muenster.
Monster Muenster?
An extremely rare and valuable cheese,
made from the milk of monstrously large Ratsylvanian cows.
Oh. It sounds monstrously yummy.
Oh, it is, I assure you.
Oh, here we are.
[tires screech, then all grunt]
Home sweet home. [chuckles] Sycliff will bring your bags to the house.
-Ever feel you're being watched? -Sorry.
No, not you. Them.
-[Benjamin] Why are they staring at us? -Maybe they've never seen city mice.
[chuckles nervously] Yeah, I guess.
The Ratoffs are different than us, but there's nothing scary about them.
-Look, they have a sweet little house. -Oh, no, that's where I live.
The Ratoffs live up there.
[thunder crashes]
[violin playing]
What? I thought I'd bring it along.
[gulps] Well, there's no place like home.
And I want you to feel at home.
I would if I were a zombie. [grunts]
[yawns]
We're all pretty tired. I assume we're sleeping upstairs?
-Aah! -Noogies. [chuckles]
Oh, no, you don't.
[laughing]
You didn't come all this way just to sleep.
[yawns] But it's 2:00 in the morning.
Exactly. Ratoffs don't go to bed until sunup.
We're just getting started.
Sycliff, music, please.
Right away, sir.
Do I hear a party?
Oh, Contessa, I'd like you to meet Geronimo Stilton, my cousin,
the famous journalist from New Mouse City.
[Contessa] Oh!
Charmed.
[Uncle Gravis] The Contessa is an old friend.
And the local historian of the Stilton-Ratoff family.
She'll make an excellent interview for your story.
I'd be delighted.
[giggles]
-Perhaps tomorrow? -Why not now, big boy?
[Geronimo gasps]
[old-timey music playing]
-Ask me anything. -Come on. Let's check this place out.
-Aah! Did you see that? -[Thea] See what?
The eyes on that picture, they moved.
-[Thea] You're imagining things, Trap. -I'm watching you, buddy.
Hm.
-So, you got any video games? -No.
-How about a skateboard? -Uh-uh.
-A bike? -No.
-But we can play with my box of bones. -Bones?
Yeah. Bet you can't connect the scapula to the fibula.
Uh...
-How about we just watch some TV? -We don't have a TV.
I'll be right back.
Gregor, off.
[chittering]
They don't even have a TV. Now I know they're totally weird.
-I'm getting a little suspicious, too. -[Sycliff] You should be.
[all gasp]
Why does everyone do that around here?
-Why should we be suspicious? -Who said you should be suspicious?
-You did. -Oh, right.
If I were you, I'd leave this place before it's too late.
-What does he mean? -Think about it.
Up all night, the hearse, the way the townspeople stared, the scary castle.
It's obvious. They're vampires.
[violin playing]
-It's a lot harder than it looks. -Maybe the Ratoffs were telling the truth.
Maybe they didn't send the letter. Maybe it was sent to us as a warning.
I'm gonna text Pandora, have her do some research.
I say we do some snooping around. But where to start?
Maybe they have a secret room behind the grandfather clock, like Geronimo has.
-Trap, that's totally ridicu-- -[all] Aah!
[bat screeching]
And you're positive you've never seen this before?
I don't believe I have. Maybe if I get a closer look.
-It's not familiar to me. -[whimpering]
-Are the Ratoffs in any sort of trouble? -No. You're very distinguished.
Such a long aristocratic neck.
[Contessa shrieks]
-Aah! Maybe tea would be nice. -I never had a taste for tea.
Uh, coffee, perhaps? Aah!
-Oh! -[Contessa] Playing hard to get.
-[gasps] -You are so cute I could just eat you up.
Oh!
Ha! I'm glad I downloaded that How-to- Navigate-a-Spooky-Castle-at-Night app.
Do you think our relatives actually wore these things?
[sniffs]
Ugh! Pee-ew!
Least they could have done is rinsed them out.
[gasps, then chuckles] Hey, can't you take a joke?
Uh, can we get out of this place? I'm freaking out here.
-It's just an old cheese cellar. -Okay.
The odds of the Ratoffs being vampires are five to one?
Yikes.
[beeping]
Max found something.
[beeping]
Oh, please, don't say it.
Coffins.
[Trap] You had to say it.
[Thea] No one panic.
[all screaming]
Just one little nibble.
-Hey, get your teeth away from my uncle. -I beg your pardon.
[gasps, then shrieks]
[clattering]
Three more seconds, you'd have been a creature of the night.
-What are you talking about? -The Ratoffs are vampires.
-We found coffins in the cellar. -You know I don't believe in vampires.
Yeah? How do you explain Contessa trying to put the bite on you?
I'll admit that was odd.
-Something terrible has happened. -What?
-[Sycliff] What? -What terrible thing has happened?
Eh? Oh.
The cheese bank has been robbed. All the Monster Muenster is gone.
The culprits are on the loose. It's not safe.
I'm getting out of here as fast as I can.
But I thought no one could break into the cheese bank.
Hm. Maybe not from the ground.
-What do you mean? -I noticed a vent on the roof.
-What if they came in from the top? -You mean like
-flew in? -Exactly.
-Vampires. -Vampires.
-Where are the Ratoffs, anyway? -I haven't seen them since Uncle Gravis
said he was going to the cheese bank to make a
[gulps] big withdrawal.
Vampires and thieves. I'm sold.
[in high-pitched voice] Me, too.
-[voices clamoring] -What's that?
There's a mob out there.
[clamoring]
[munching noisily]
Here, garlic for protection.
I... pfff, think you'll be protection enough.
I refuse to believe our relatives are vampires or thieves.
Relatives? Aah!
I'd completely forgotten we share the same blood.
Oh! What if I'm a vampire?
Do my teeth look longer to you? Eh? Eh? Eh? They feel pointy.
I'm sure there's a logical explanation for where the Ratoffs went.
-[Uncle Gravis] We went to the bank. -[Benjamin gasps]
[all gasp]
We had to come in from the back. Did you know there's a mob out there?
Vampires!
[gasps] Vampires? Where?
You. You're the vampires.
Stand back. I'm loaded.
What are you talking about? We're not vampires.
There's one way to prove it.
Vampires can't see their reflection.
[clicks tongue]
-So you're really not vampires? -How could you think we were vampires?
Look at this place. It's dark.
-We have sensitive eyes. -What about the Contessa?
She was about to sink her pearly whites into my coz.
[chuckles] The sweet old dear, she tries to kiss every man who comes in here.
[shrieks]
[Contessa giggling]
So, why did you say you were making a big withdrawal?
Well, we wanted to surprise you with a fancy party
and have you taste the Monster Muenster.
But when we got there, everyone's cheese was stolen.
-Oh. I'm sorry I jumped to a conclusion. -[Geronimo shrieking]
Oh, that's okay, Benjamin.
You're not the only ones suspicious of us.
Group hug.
[Geronimo grunting]
That still doesn't answer who sent the letter.
[hisses]
Viv, it was you?
[hisses]
She says that with the break-ins,
the townspeople would blame us. She thought you guys
could figure out who's responsible, being famous journalists.
-She said that? -I was paraphrasing.
[mob clamoring]
Excuse me. I will reason with them
and clear our family's good name.
[thudding]
Tough crowd.
Mm. You grow great tomatoes here.
[bug chittering]
-[chirping] -It's Pandora. She has some information,
but I don't have enough memory to download it.
No problem.
Wow.
[machines whirring and beeping]
You don't have a television, but you have all this?
Television's old school. We like to stay cutting edge.
-Pandora? -Yeah. Thought you should see this.
The butler, Sycliff, isn't who he says he is.
In fact, he's not even a mouse or a rat. He's a bat.
It's Bat Batterson and his crew of brilliant burglars.
Amazing what you can find on the web.
Perhaps your coffins in the cellar were designed
-for something other than vampires. -Like smuggling cheese out of town.
-Come, let's go. -Be careful, okay?
Batterson's crew is known to be dangerous.
You did just hear her, right? Very dangerous?
Guys.
[groans]
[bats screeching]
Hold it right there, Sycliff. Or should I say Bat Batterson?
Oh.
You Stiltons are so tiresome.
I told you to go while you had the chance.
We're not going anywhere and neither are you.
Not with the town's cheese.
[chuckling]
Oh, no? Who's going to take it from us?
I am.
[gasps]
She is.
[yells]
[screeching]
[grunting]
Hey, get your own hiding place.
[Thea yells, then Batterson grunts]
Quick. Come on.
[grunting]
Guys, I'm stuck.
Can somebody get butter and rub it on me?
[grunting]
Viv, listen, I need you to hiss as loud as you can.
Go ahead, Viv.
[hisses]
[screeching]
That's pretty clever, Uncle G. Bats fly by sonar,
and Viv's high-pitched hissing is messing them up.
Got them.
[cheering]
Here are your thieves.
And we have the pictures to prove it.
I can't thank you enough for clearing our name
and getting our town's cheese back.
-It's what you do for family. -Oh, group hug.
[all grunting]
[chirping]
[thunder crashes]
Now that Bat Batterson and his crew are in jail,
the people of Transratania can breathe a sigh of relief.
And the Ratoffs can walk down the street and be greeted by hellos and not stares.
Geronimo Stilton, reporting.
[gulps]
Ah. Monster Muenster. Yum. Now, I know what all the fuss was about.
Mm. Wow, Uncle G. It sure was nice of the Ratoffs to send this to us.
They just wanted to show their appreciation.
Uh, Uncle Gravis sent me a necklace.
Nib sent me my own set of bones.
I love my present.
Huh?
I'm sorry I thought the Ratoffs were vampires.
They're really nice, in a weird way.
-So, what'd you get? -I don't know. I haven't looked yet.
Hi, big boy.
Give the Contessa a big kiss.
No. Aah! Aah!
No, no.
[Geronimo muttering]
Okay, just on the cheek.
[Geronimo muttering]
No, please.
[Contessa] Hold still.
[bat screeching]