I do not own Hotel Transylvania.

Monster Prankster

Positioned outside of Griffin's hotel room, Johnny moved as quietly as he could. Using thick rope and electrical tape, he attached a black plastic bucket above the door. When he felt the bucket was secure with enough tape, he took hold of one end of the rope and waited for his target to venture out.

Ten minutes passed and Johnny frowned when he couldn't detect any noises coming from the other side of the wooden door. Inching forwards, he raised his fist to knock. Before his skin could make contact the door suddenly flew open, causing the twenty-one-year-old to stumble backwards in surprise. The rope pulled taunt in his grip, yanking the bucket free from its cocoon of tape. The substance within cascaded out, splattering over the red carpet, grey walls and himself.

Griffin stood in the safety of his room, watching the teen yelp with disgust and try to flick the thick mixture off of his body. "That's a good look for you," he snickered. "What is that stuff?"

"Scream cheese, worm spaghetti and animal blood sauce," grumbled Johnny, embarrassment and ire flooding through him at his failed prank. "How'd you know I was out here?"

"Like you can be silent with those clodhoppers," laughed Griffin. "I was watching you through this peephole the whole time."

Johnny stared down at this sneaker-covered feet. "They are not big," he defended, taking a glob of the grey slime from his shoulder and flicking it at the Invisible Man.

"What is that smell?"

Flinching slightly, Johnny tried to arrange his lips into an innocent smile. He clasped his hands behind his back and said cheerfully, "Hey, Drac. How's it hanging?"

"You have perfect timing," said Griffin with a snicker.

Striding down the corridor, Dracula paused to avoid stepping into the odd substance puddled in his carpet. He shifted his gaze between Griffin and Johnny, settling on the dirty redhead. "What did you do?" he asked with a scowl.

"What do you assume it's me?" protested Johnny. When Dracula raised his brow, he sighed and muttered, "Fine. It was me. I was trying to prank Griffin."

"That clearly did not go so well," drawled Dracula. "If you're going to try and be funny at least do it right."

Griffin cackled and Johnny shot him a glare. "Very funny," he groused.

"Clean this mess up," the Prince of Darkness ordered. "I don't know what it is and I don't want to know, but I want it gone."

"Got it, Drac." Johnny saluted the vampire, who rolled his eyes and swept off. When he was gone, the teen crossed his arms with a pout. "How come I'm always the one getting gunk covered?"

"You're terrible at pranking," answered Griffin.

"I'll have you know that I was the best prankster at my elementary school, middle school and high school," declared Johnny proudly.

"Human schools," pointed out Griffin. "You're among monsters now. We're the best pranksters around."

"Oh, no way. We humans can be just as good as monsters when it comes to stuff. I know I'm a better prankster than you."

"Oh-ho really?" Griffin, never one to step away from a challenge, grinned with anticipation. "Then let's put your money where your mouth is."

"Uh…okay. But I don't have much money…"

"It was a figure of speech," the Invisible Man clarified, rolling his eyes. "You think you're a hot-shot when it comes to pranking? Let's see if you can prove it. Whoever manages to pull two pranks first without getting caught wins."

Johnny's eyes gleamed. "You are so on." A drop of blended food dripped from his hair to the carpet and he amended, "You are so on, after I clean this gunk up."

…

As far as Johnny was concerned, the undisputed ruler of Hotel Transylvania was the only option for his first target. Lingering at the top of the winding stone staircase, he peered down into the bustling lobby. He pinpointed the regal monster amongst the crowd, speaking rather intently with one of the zombie employees.

Johnny rushed up the stairs and sprinted towards the master suite. The door was unlocked, allowing him easy entry. "Yes," he whispered with a grin. "Let's do this."

Not sure how much time he would have, he knew he would have to work quickly. Removing his precious backpack, he dug around and removed several bottles of pink dye. He then ransacked Dracula's closet and grabbed all of the capes. He moved to the bathroom, where there was a large stone basin stuck in the corner of room.

"Geez, Drac, you really need to upgrade to the twenty-first century," groaned Johnny. "Get some washing machines in this place."

Grateful that the old-fashioned establishment at least had running water, he filled the basin with hot water. He dumped all of his bottles into the water, creating a dark pink mixture. He set all the clothes into the water and let them sit for a half-hour. As he waited, he kept casting nervous glances towards the door, knowing very well what would happen if Dracula burst in and caught him. Not only would he lose the bet, he would probably lose a few fingers.

"Annnd we're done," he said in relief when his watch started beeping, signalling it was time to remove the clothes. He pulled them all out, each cape soaking wet, and studied them. Because Dracula's capes were black, they were not as vibrant as they should have been. But thanks to the vast amount of dye he had put into the water, the capes were a lighter shade of pink.

Grinning, Johnny quickly hung each cape back up in Dracula's closet. He cleaned up the water droplets and, using another bucket stashed in his backpack, chucked all of the dirty water out of the window. When he was finished, he booked it out of the hotel room, only to return a few hours later to steal Dracula's only good cape while he was in the shower.

…

Dracula, to put it mildly, was not happy.

He stormed about in a fury, face flushed red as the ridiculous pink cape flared out behind him. The guests snickered and laughed freely whenever he passed by, and were only slightly cowed by the intense glare he cast at anyone guilty of mockery.

Johnny had been saved by Dracula's wrath by his awesome girlfriend, who claimed that he had been with her all of yesterday. The Prince of Darkness clearly did not believe his daughter, but with a lack of evidence, he only gestured warningly at the boy before striding stiffly away.

"Not bad, kid. You went straight to the top dog."

Johnny, who was sitting in one of the couches in the lobby watching Dracula skulk around, tried to hide a smirk. "Hey, I'm here to win."

Griffin leaned against the back of the couch, grinning at the sight of his friend moving around surrounded with a dark, moody aura. "I can't believe he hasn't killed you yet. He has to know that it's you."

"He probably does. But I'm innocent until proven guilty. And Mavis is super cool and protected me when he tried to wring my throat to get a confession."

Griffin stared at the fingerless orange gloves covering Johnny's hands. "You wearing those for any particular reason?"

Johnny's eyes shifted back and forth. "Weeell, I may have been unable to scrub all the dye off of my skin."

"And Drac didn't catch this?" asked Griffin incredulously.

"I wear this things often, so it's not weird. Plus when he came after me I didn't have them on so I had to cover them with the sleeves of my sweater, which is less suspicious." Johnny crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm winning."

There was a sudden commotion as the wolf pups stampeded through the lobby, barking and growling as they clamoured about. An exhausted and strained Wayne soon appeared with his wife, trying to corral their children with little luck.

Griffin straightened up with a grin. "Not for long, kid."

Johnny furrowed his brow as he removed his glasses and stuck them in his pocket, so that they disappeared from sight. With no way to track the monster, the teen sat in bewilderment, moving his eyes in a continuous motion to try and catch some glimpse of where he had gone.

Griffin moved behind Wayne and removed some strips of bacon from his other pocket. He carefully pulled back the werewolf's shirt and dropped the bacon inside. Jerking from the sensation of something sliding down his back, Wayne cried, "What the—?"

Griffin raced out of the way as the wolf pups caught the scent of the meat. Wayne hollered as he was swarmed, his children nipping and clawing his fur in an attempt to get at the snack. Wanda could only stare in bemusement, shaking her head at the usual antics of her brood.

Johnny gaped at the chaotic display, which attracted every eye of the guests lingering in the expansive lobby. Dracula stared blankly for a moment, before slowly striding over to the fighting wolf pups and flicking his hand. The group immediately levitated away from their father, who groaned and slumped back on the floor.

"Go play in the pool," ordered Dracula.

Sensing that their uncle was already in a horrid mood, the wolf pups did not want to incur his wrath and hastily complied. Laughing softly, Wanda patted her husband's head and smiled gratefully at the vampire before following after her children.

"What the heck is in my shirt?" questioned Wayne. He stood and shook himself off, the bacon falling out and hitting the floor. Scowling, he picked it up and waved it around angrily. "All right, who's the wise guy?"

"You!" shouted Dracula, eyes zeroing in on the redhead peering at them from one of the red sofas.

"It wasn't me!" protested Johnny. "I haven't moved! How would I be able to stick bacon down his shirt without him noticing me?"

"Kid's got a point. I may not have a great sniffer, but I'm not blind." Wayne eyed the bacon before shrugging and popping it into his mouth. "Where's Griffin?" he asked suspiciously. "He's pulled this dumb stunt before."

Dracula scanned the room, but he could not sense his invisible companion. "Not here," he said with a sharp frown. "Something is going on around here." Placing his attention on Johnny, he growled warningly, "If I find out you had something to do with any of this—"

"You'll suck my blood?" interjected Johnny with a smirk.

Dracula was beside the human in an instant and he whacked him across the head for his smart remark. "I'll bite off all your fingers," he finished with a sinister smile. "And burn your backpack."

Johnny's eyes widened with horror. "Not my backpack!"

"Get out of here," the Prince of Darkness instructed. "Don't cause any more trouble."

"Wasn't me," sang Johnny before jumping over the back of the couch and darting off. He skipped up the stone stairs, intending to find Mavis, but slammed into an invisible obstacle. "Ouch!"

"Whoops, sorry." Griffin stuck his glasses back on, so that the teen would be able to discern where he was. "What'd you think of that?"

"Not bad. But totally not fair." Johnny crossed his arms over his chest, expression disgruntled. "You should have to do twice as many pranks. It's so easy to do them when no one can see you."

"What's the matter?" teased Griffin. "I thought humans could be just as good as monsters."

"We are," said Johnny firmly. "That's why I'm gonna win this, without using some cheap invisibility tactic."

Rolling his eyes, Griffin shoved Johnny's shoulder. "It's not like I can't not be invisible, loser."

"You probably haven't tried hard enough," countered Johnny. He attempted to shove Griffin back, but missed his mark completely and pitched forwards to the floor. "Ow."

Staring down in amusement, Griffin said, "You make absolutely no sense sometimes, kid."

"Yeah. I know."

…

Having gathered intel that a certain monster would be dining at Hunchback's restaurant (now without the involvement of Quasimodo—but no one could be bothered to change the name), Griffin knew that this would be the scene of his last prank.

Glasses tucked securely in his pocket, Griffin moved stealthily through the busy restaurant. He wound his way through the tables and past the waiters. His eyes zeroed in on Murray, who was in the middle of eating a bowl of the finest beetles and sweet onion sauce. Going to stand near his friend, Griffin flicked the spare fork to the floor.

"What the…?" muttered Murray, confused, for he was sure his elbow hadn't been anywhere near the utensil. He leaned over to reach for it, leaving Griffin with enough time to open the small white bottle of superglue and dump a few globs on the exposed seat of the chair.

Squelch!

Freezing at the odd sound, Murray felt something wet seep through his wrappings. He attempted to get up, only to discover he was stuck tight. "Oh, I don't think so," he growled. "I know someone didn't just glue my butt to this chair!"

Glowing green eyes searching wildly for the culprit, they fell upon a peculiar sight—a glue bottle floating in midair. "Griffin! You invisible jerk! Get back here!"

At Murray's infuriated cry, Griffin took off, trying frantically to peel the plastic container from his hand. But it was attached firmly to his skin, some of the adhesive spilling onto his fingers while he was trying to dump it on Murray's chair.

"Come on, come on," he hissed. "Oof!"

He slammed into something solid, causing him to reel back a few steps. A vice grip landed on his hair, holding him in place. "Ouch!" he hollered. "Ow, that's my hair!"

"Good," said Dracula silkily. "I wasn't aiming for your arm."

"Thrash him, Drac!" called Murray. "Kick him and punch him!"

"What are you doing here?" asked Griffin, ignoring the mummy's remarks.

"I see and hear all," deadpanned the vampire. "One of the suits of armour saw you heading here with superglue and thought it was suspicious. After Wayne's incident yesterday, I knew you had something to do with these pranks."

"I didn't dye your cape pink!" cried Griffin, Dracula's long nails digging into his scalp. "It was the kid!"

Eyes flashing red, Dracula hollered a curt, "I'll be back!" to the trapped Murray before leaving the restaurant. Griffin yelped as his body was jolted from side-to-side as Dracula moved with super speed through the corridors. Using his senses, the Prince of Darkness pinpointed the only human resident of the hotel.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Johnny, stumbling back as Dracula appeared suddenly before him. He clutched the straps of his backpack, not missing the anger that radiated from the monster. "Uh…what's up?" he asked nervously.

"You dyed my capes pink."

"I did not!"

With nimble fingers, Dracula snatched one of the gloves off of Johnny's hands, revealing streaks of faded pink dye. "You little whelp."

"Who told you?" demanded Johnny.

"Hey, if I'm going down, you're going down with me," piped up Griffin, alerting the teen to his presence.

"You got busted? Ha!" Johnny's delight quickly fizzled when Dracula took a hold of his ear. "Ouch! Aw, I'm sorry! Don't eat off my fingers!"

"I think you two need to cool down," said Dracula darkly.

Ten minutes later, the two found themselves in the catacombs beneath the hotel, Dracula locking the door securely. Johnny crossed his arms over his chest and slunk down against the stone wall, shivering from the draft. "You snitch."

"Please," scoffed Griffin. "Like you wouldn't have done the same thing."

He joined the teen on the freezing floor, idly brushing away the cobwebs that stirred from his movement. Johnny reached over and took ginger hold of the glue bottle. With a mighty yank, he managed to tear it off.

"You're welcome," he said cheekily in response to Griffin's pained shout.

"You little brat." Griffin punched Johnny in the shoulder, grimacing from the sting. "I think I lost some skin."

"I couldn't tell," the redhead quipped.

"Ugh, this sucks." Griffin crossed his arms over his chest. "When is Drac gonna let us out of here?"

"Probably not for a while."

"He's got no decent sense of humour. Guess no one wins this bet."

A smirk curling across his lips, Johnny said, "What do you mean? I win?"

Griffin snorted. "I don't think so. Neither of us managed to pull two pranks. That means a draw, my man."

With dramatic movement, Johnny unzipped his backpack and removed Frankenstein's hand. "Snuck in his room and detached it while he was sleeping," he explained, great satisfaction welling within him. "Since you got busted and I successfully pulled two pranks before you dragged me down, that means I win."

A stunned silence ensued, in which Griffin could only stare.

"I so wish your face was visible. I bet it's priceless." Johnny grinned triumphantly. "Humans rule and monsters drool."

"…fine. You win. But there's something you ought to know about me."

"What's that?"

"I'm a sore loser."

Johnny found himself flung backwards as Griffin tackled, his fingers immediately starting to jab relentlessly at the teen's sides. Johnny burst into sudden, helpless laughter, trying to fend the Invisible Man off.

"Stooooop! No faaair!"

"Come on, Mr. Great Human. What happened to your bravado?"

Though they would spend the next four hours stuck in the damp, bug-infested catacombs, and Johnny's sides would ache from Griffin's assault of poor sportsmanship behaviour, he decided it was all totally worth it.