Ross (AYAOTD)
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Background
Ross Campbell likes to play pinball machines.
During the events of Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Season 1 Episode 13 The Tale of the Pinball Wizard played by Joseph Posca
At the local mall, as Ross is grabbing a coin from the water fountain a Bag Lady tries to grab it from him. Security Guard sees them fighting and asks what is going on. Ross runs and hides and then walks into a store called Olson’s. Ross walks up to Mr. Olson and asks him if he came to a decision on hiring Ross. Mr. Olson says he doesn’t think he wants to hire anymore kids, but Ross tells him he works cheap, and he has talents Mr. Olson can use. Ross says Mr. Olson can trust him and wouldn’t have to fire him like he fired Steve. Ross pulls up a tarp and sees a pinball machine underneath. Mr. Olson tells him not to touch it as it is a collector’s item, and it doesn’t work right. Mr. Olson tells Ross to leave the store as he is leaving for lunch. Ross offers to watch the store for Mr. Olson. Mr. Olson agrees to let Ross watch his store, but tells him to sit at the counter, don’t move, don’t touch the cash register, and don’t touch any of the merchandise, especially the new pinball machine. Ross asks if he can even go to the restroom and Mr. Olson says no and that he is giving him a chance, if he does well, he will hire him. Shortly after Mr. Olson leaves, Ross goes into the back of the shop and removes the tarp from the pinball machine and puts a quarter in it and starts to play it. Mr. Olson, who is standing just outside the store, hears Ross playing the pinball machine and smiles. Ross loses the game and hears someone ringing the customer bell.
He walks to the front and Sophie asks him if Mr. Olson is there. Ross tells her no and Sophie tells him that she left her music box at the store to be repaired and it was supposed to be ready. Ross asks what it looks like and when Sophie asks him if he really works there, Ross tells her that he is in charge. Ross finds the music box, which is shaped like a throne and finally admits to Sophie that he doesn’t actually work at the store and is just looking after it for Mr. Olson. He tells her that Mr. Olson will be back in an hour and Sophie says she will come back and thanks Ross before leaving. Ross goes back to playing the pinball machine and repeatedly loses the game. When he walks back to the front of the store, the lights in the mall have been turned off and the entrance doors are locked. He hears the phone ring and someone who sounds like Mr. Olson asks him if he has an umbrella. Quarters start falling from the ceiling into the fountain and Ross takes handfuls of them. He sees what appears to be a man in a suit and grabs his arm and asks him for help and the man turns out to be a Suit Zombie. More Zombies appear and Ross notices the Zombies are afraid of water. He hears someone shouting for help and sees Sophie dressed in a princess outfit being grabbed by the Sheriff.
Sophie tells Ross to grab the tiara from the vault and drops a key. Ross grabs the key after splashing water at the Zombies and walks towards a set of lockers. He opens one locker and green goo is ejected onto his face; after opening a third locker, he finds a headband and the escalator starts working. Ross takes the escalator up and the headband turns into a tiara and the quarters turn into pinballs. Sophie yells at Ross to follow her and Ross runs after her, but after opening a door, is confronted by the Witch. While Sophie is being carried away by the Executioner, she yells at Ross to save the tiara and get the throne. The Witch uses her breath to blow Ross into the hallway and he falls to the ground. The Witch takes the tiara and Ross regains consciousness. He hears Sophie calling him and she tells him to get to the music box. Ross runs back to Olson's and hears a muffled sound and finds Sophie chained to a chair. He uses the key to unlock the chains, and Ross asks Sophie what is going on. She tells him there is no time to explain and Sophie grabs her music box. The Executioner attacks them with a mace, and they run out of the store. Sophie uses the music box to make the tiara disappear from the witch’s hands and then Sophia hides the music box. The Executioner attacks them again and Sophie tells Ross that he needs to play the game and get the Executioners mace. Ross grabs the mace when the Executioner gets it stuck on a trash can and he and Sophie run away. Sophie tells Ross that they have to find the tiara so Sophie can be crowned.
They get the tiara but are found by the Witch. Ross throws the pinballs at the Witch, and she falls to the ground, but the Sheriff grabs Sophie. Sophie throws the tiara and tells Ross to get it and bring it to the third level. Ross grabs the tiara and pulls out the music box and the escalator to the third floor starts. He takes the escalator to the third floor and realizes he is acting out the pinball game in real life. He puts the music box shaped like a throne on the ground, and it grows. Ross sits on the throne, and it slides along the ground and through the Witch. It stops in front of the Wrestler who yells at Ross. The Wrestler pushes the elevator button, and the elevator opens and the Sheriff grabs Ross and throws him into the elevator going down. The elevator door opens, and Ross realizes he is back at the beginning of the game. He sees a super soaker encased in a glass case and uses the mace to break the glass and get the super soaker. He makes it back up to the third floor and just as the Sheriff is about to be crowned on the throne, Ross shows up. The Sheriff tells him that he has lost, and Ross says her never loses. Ross sprays the Wrestler, and Zombies with water causing them to disappear. The Sheriff attacks Ross and knocks the super soaker out of his hand. The Sheriff tells him the game isn’t over until all the characters are gone and Ross pulls out a mini soaker and shoots the Sheriff with it, causing him to disappear. Sophie tells him that he did it and then sits on the throne. Ross places the crown on Sophie and is returned back to the first floor of the mall. He yells that he won and then looks up at Mr. Olson who is looking down at Ross from outside the pinball game. Mr. Olson tells Ross that Ross told him that he could trust him and laughs. He then tells Ross that he will be playing the game forever.