"HURRY UP PONDS!" shouted the Doctor up the TARDIS staircase, "I WANT TO TAKE A DIP!" The Doctor, clad in a full body wetsuit and scuba gear, was waiting eagerly by the TARDIS doors as Amy and Rory walked down the staircase, Rory in a polo and brown swim trunks, Amy in a red two-piece. "Whatever happened to just swimming in the TARDIS swimming pool?" questioned Rory, who was woken by the Doctor about an hour before with a bullhorn. "Because," explained the Doctor, "We are going lake swimming! Full of fishies without fingers, I could add some with fingers, but that would ruin the entire ecosystem and probably cause a widespread amount of decay to the environment, with the whole country without life within the next century. So no, fishies with fingers, bad idea."
"Where are we swimming anyways?" asked Amy.
The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors. "MINNESOTA! Land of a trillion lakes! At least that's what it will be called in a few centuries. For now it is just 1979." The Doctor walked out of the TARDIS to immediately be stopped a few feet later. The lake was completely empty; there was no moisture in it, with dead fishes situated about the massive ditch where a lake should have been. It was a surprisingly massive lake; at least, it would have been if there was water.
"Doctor?" asked Amy.
"Yes?" said the Doctor
"There is no lake."
"Well there was when I checked last night." The Doctor sonic-ed around, not sure exactly what he was looking for, but just hoping something would turn up.
"Doctor, what exactly are you looking for?" asked Rory, waiting patiently by the TARDIS doors.
"Not sure," explained the Doctor, putting away his sonic screwdriver, "just hoping something will turn up. Ponds, get back into normal clothes. There is a town about a mile away. Lovely fishing center, used to go there a few centuries back all the time. Don't really know why anymore, I don't really like fishing." About an hour later they were in normal clothes and walking through the town. It was a small, suburban town, typical of the seventies.
"I feel like I'm in 'The Sandlot'," admitted Rory. "Mind if I stop by a fishing store? I need to grab my dad a present and he would love some of this stuff."
"Not a chance, Rory. We all need to stick together." The Doctor made sure to grab his companions hands before crossing the street, which Rory felt was a little unnecessary.
"Don't you think you're a little too concerned about a dried up lake, Doctor?" inquired Rory.
"I think I'm a little too concerned about how this fits in with everything else," he responded, opening the doors to a local bar.
"What do you mean everything- hey, wait up!" Amy shouted as Rory and the Doctor walked away from her as she was distracted by some local music.
The trio walked into a bar. It was an average little bar, only two or three people in it. The bartender was a particularly round young man with no hair and a vest. The bar was surprisingly well lit for a bar, and had posters of bands like Wings and movies like Star Wars and Jaws.
The bartender looked up. "Welcome to the Coop," he said dully. He didn't ask for what drink they wanted. He wasn't exactly the friendliest of fellows, but he didn't seem threatening, just antisocial.
"Marty! It's me! The Doctor! Remember! Doctor! Caught the largest bass you've ever seen!" Marty the bartender just looked at him. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Order your drink or scram."
The Doctor look slightly befuddled. "Are you by any chance Marty Abrams III, are you?"
"I'm Marty IV, now hurry up and order before I call Doug to kick you out."
The Doctor looked even more confused. "I remember you as a baby. You were such a nice baby, the nicest baby I ever-" he was going to go on but Amy grabbed his shoulder as a way of saying "you should probably stop talking" as Marty the bartender started to display some confusion on his face. Marty finally stated one last time, "You have five seconds before I wake Doug up. Five-"
"Alright alright!" the Doctor insterted. "I'll just have water, these two probably want some scotch"
Amy added, "Actually, I wanted some water too-"
She was interrupted by the sound of a bottle of scotch quickly being slid in front of her very quickly. "Wow that was fast. And unneeded." She slid her scotch over to Rory, who wasn't keen to be drinking either. Rory just tossed both drinks into the plant next to him and paid Marty, who was confused by the British money but honestly didn't care enough to say anything.
"So, little Marty, tell me about the dried up lake."
Marty scoffed. "I don't care too much about the lake. Brings too many fishers and tourists, like you lot. I only like serving residents, but you lot pay anyways."
An old man in a plaid button up shirt and a fishing vest walked up to the Doctor. "Are you investigating the ghost of No-Luck Nelson, too?"
"Yes," the Doctor answered as a lie. "That is it exactly. Ghost hunting. Us three. They call us the hunters of ghost. We have club called Mystery Incorporated. Or is that Scooby Doo? Anyways, tell us more about this ghost."
The old fisherman sat down. "Well, Nelson was a local here, troubled kid all his life, got into alcohol as a teenager in order to get over some of the stuff he was having trouble with. He eventually became a bum in the town, an alcoholic, living in his dead folks place and making a living off of catching bait. Anyway, one night he was drinking by the lake during a meteor shower. He was enjoying the view, and apparently, one of the little meteorites got off course. We're not sure exactly what happened, but we know the area around the lake was scorched and Nelson was never seen again. Pretty soon pretty strange stuff started happening. Ghost lights had started appearing every few nights or so. Then a week ago, his ghost started attacking people. Set a building on fire. No one saw who did it, but there was a trail of fire on the ground leading back to the lake. And then last night, the lake just dried up. Nobody knows how. We all just show up this morning and it's empty. The only explanation is No-Luck Nelson. So a couple of us are going out tonight and searching the empty lake."
"Well," the Doctor added, "You can count us in. Mystery Incorporated and the town of Vide, Minnesota. Sounds perfect!"
Amy pulled the Doctor aside. "This was never about going for a dip, was it?"
"Not even for a moment." He replied. They smiled at each other for a moment and started laughing. "A ghost," Amy said. "We are out looking for a ghost."
"Well," the Doctor interjected, "It probably isn't a ghost. Meteor shower arriving at the same as all the unusual activity, more likely an alien or something. Shouldn't be too difficult. Simple, boring stuff. You know, the usual." The Doctor tried to sound tough while saying this, as if it was a normal thing, but he couldn't deny he was a little excited for this. He always liked a good ghost story.
In ten hours, half the town will be dead.
