Hey, everyone, 087-B here with another chapter of Beach Bandits!

In the previous chapter, the gang talked with Ranger Calloway at the central lake and discussed that Eric Tech and his company had recently bought land around The Lakes area, and in such little time prior to the draining of the water. Now, after dealing with some more robots and repairing a broken bridge to delve deeper into the surrounding wilderness of The Lakes, they seem to have come across something new…

What could it be? Read on to find out…rather quickly, might I add!

Now, on with the show!

Chapter 6

The Lakes Arc – Part 3

"The Pumping Station"

The four of them were staring at a large, out of place looking blue metallic dome, surrounded by a large iron fence and with multiple large crates littered about the area, all of them labeled with the EcoTech logo. Atop the strange building was an even stranger looking spinning transmitter type machine, with a bright red button on it that was noticeable from a mile away. Two robot spawners were within the boundaries of the fence, both of them creating what appeared to be tall, slim, humanoid robots, each of them equipped with a large, strange looking gun; the four agreed that those would probably be the most dangerous robots yet. A few other robot spawners rested about, creating the pump-disc-robots they had encountered earlier. Finally, adjacent to the slope they were standing at the top of, was another identical slope on the other side of the small, circular valley, leading into, what appeared to be, a dense forest.

"Whoa…that's gotta be the place, guys…" Dipper said, peering over a rock to get a better look. "It must be taking the water somewhere!"

Wendy nodded in agreement. "Then let's get in, and find out where."

"But how?" Mabel asked. She pointed to the front of the dome. "The door down there is shut, and besides, the whole thing is surrounded by a super big fence!"

"Well there's gotta be someway over it, right?" Soos asked.

"Leave that to me!" Dipper smiled and crossed his arms pridefully. "After all, I'm a master at getting over fences."

"Yeah, sure." Wendy rolled her eyes. "Anyways, let's just look around first. It can't be that hard to find a way over, right?"

As they descended down the slope carefully to become level with the door of the building, Dipper glanced up at the swirling radar, his eyes fixated on the obvious button. "I have a feeling that button up there will open the door."

"What button— oh." Mabel stopped herself when she saw Dipper point up at the button. "How did I not see that…?"

"In most movies, you don't press the red button, dude." Soos said.

"But it's the only button, Soos. It's our only shot." Wendy added.

"Alright, then…but how do we get up there?" He asked. "I mean, first we gotta get over that fence somehow, then we gotta take out those robo-guard looking dudes, then we gotta somehow get to that button."

"Easier said than done, Soos; this'll be a predicament for sure." Dipper sighed. "Everyone split up and try and find a way in. But be careful, we don't know what else is around here, this place could be even more defended than it appears to be."

"What should we look for?" Mabel asked.

"Definitely don't look for holes in the fence, I doubt someone like Tech is dumb enough to overlook something like that." Dipper replied. "Other than that, anything else is fair game for looking for."

With that, as soon as they reached the bottom of the slope, they all split off, taking out the numerous robots and spawners along the way. It only took them a few minutes of searching before Dipper seemed to find something interesting and out of place – of course, not as out of place as the whole building was. He found a pair of crates, the only two crates not within the fence, both pressed against the exterior part of the fence, allowing for one to climb up on top of them and jump over. Dipper smiled.

"Guys, over here!" He called, and the others quickly ran over to him.

"What did ya find, bro?" Mabel asked once she arrived.

"Check this out!" Dipper pointed.

Wendy took a look. "Oh boy, wooden boxes. Whoop-dee-do."

"No, look!" Dipper climbed up on one box, then the next, and finally hopped over the fence, landing on the muddy terrain below. He looked back at the others and smirked. "How's that for being the 'Fence-Hopping-Master'?"

He was a bit surprised to see them looking at him wide-eyed.

"Wow, did…did I surprise you that much?" Dipper chuckled sheepishly. "Cause, if I did, well–"

"Dude, behind you!" Soos shouted.

"Huh?" Dipper quickly turned, then swung his hockey stick quickly, barely blocking the oncoming butt of the metallic gun wielded by one of the robot guards. Feeling overpowered, he fell back, as the guard aimed the nozzle of its gun at his forehead.

As it did, Wendy hopped the fence and knocked off the head of the robot quickly with her own hockey stick. Then she sprinted over and jammed the end of it into the robot spawner that had created it in front of the large metal door.

Wendy ran back over to help Dipper up, who was panting and trying to process what had just happened. "Wow…thanks…"

"You okay?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…close call!" Dipper rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh, yeah." Wendy chuckled. Then she realized something. "Wait, wasn't there another one…?"

They both turned and saw anther robot henchman running towards them. They both smirked and readied their weapons, sprinting towards it, ready to fight.

Mabel and Soos had just gotten over the fence in time to see Dipper stabbed his hockey stick into the robot's chest, yanking it up and causing it to fall over and cease to function, with Wendy destroying it's spawner at the same time. Once they regrouped, they looked around.

"Okay…so now what?" Mabel asked.

"Now we gotta find a way to get on top of the building." Dipper responded. "I wonder if there are any more crates we could use…"

"Or, we can use this ladder right here."

The others looked over to see Wendy beginning to climb a black metal ladder. Dipper, Mabel, and Soos quickly followed, and continued up multiple platforms and ladders to reach the top. Once they did, they approached the large, spinning satellite thing.

"Well, this was a lot easier than I thought it would be…" Dipper muttered.

"Yeah…it's like it was too easy…" Soos added.

They all waited for something to happen once Soos had said then, and when nothing did, Mabel shook her head. "No, I think it was just easy."

Dipper walked over and firmly pressed the button with both palms. The building shook a little for a quick moment, before they all heard gears shifting. The door below seemed to be opening. They hopped over a small iron barricade and slid down the smooth structure to the muddy path below, seeing the door open.

"C'mon, guys!" Dipper sprinted inside. "Let's find the water!"

Everyone smiled and followed him in, as the large metal door shut automatically behind them.

-(End of Chapter)-

To be continued…

So, the team has found a mysterious building, and they believe it to be linked to the water's disappearance, and after getting inside…what will they find?

I'll leave that for you to think about until the next chapter!

Anyways, I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, reviews are highly appreciated, and as always…

Stay Tuned!

~087-B