Author's note: For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, company towns are just that. A town run and owned by a small company. It was common in some eras, people who worked there often earned housing, food, etc for their labor but the company owned literally everything. Community events, restaurants, everything was run and maintained in adjunct to the company. Sometimes workers would even be 'paid' in town specific currency redeemable only in the company lands. A good reference song for this is 'Sixteen Tons'.

Just a Company Town (pt. 1)

Who: Bebe Don & Crew
When: Several years before the terror of Don Karnage
What: Some kids have a dream, but one of them has a proper plan.

"Wake up," Don nudged Dumptruck and then moved along to the next bed in their work dorm. "Four am, up up up!" God he hated morning shift but until they were old enough to cut loose the orphanage was just a glorified labor house. And if they missed the call at the factory then the house harpy didn't get her money.

And then no one got to eat.

To be fair, the harpy didn't eat either then, but it was morning and he wasn't feeling charitable. "UP! MUFFINS IN FIVE YES?!" The youngest set in the next dorm over had managed to make edible muffins, and starting a shift with something in their stomachs kept everyone out of trouble. "Except you, you stay here Jock. Yes, we'll bring you muffins, you watch Dumptruck today!" He watched the stocky child slip between the cots to help Dumptruck sit up before nodding and following the rest downstairs.

Sure, being two people down was tough, but they'd learned early after the large boy's injury that he couldn't be left alone.

He managed to keep his grumbling and snarling down until they were past the other dorms, then he was as grumbly and snarly as the rest. God he was starting to understand why people drank coffee despite the taste with these early mornings. "NO THAT IS FOR-oh, yes, good morning Mrs. Perse. Yes, yes, we did, please, um, that is for Dumptruck. Yes, I mean Thom, but we're calling him Dumptruck and...yes, sorry we woke you up please go back to bed we're leaving yes yes?" He watched Gibber skitter back up the stairs with the rest of his group's breakfast then offered a grin to the lady who kept a roof over their head. "LEAVING MEN! NOW!"

Yes, out the door and tearing down the dark streets of their tiny little town. For a free island it wasn't much; the only employer of note was Kahn industries and they were building planes. The whole island was geared toward impressing the new owner and pumping out better, faster planes. Hell, the orphanage was full of kids who lost a parent or two under the old owner; the new one couldn't be worse right?

Sure.

"NO! NO NO NO NOT YOU NOT THERE! YES BACK!" It was important to keep his crew together because no one else really knew how to work with them and getting one kid mixed up in another group of kids could mean terrible things!

"You! Loud mouth!" the foreman pointed across the yard then looked at his lists, "And that group you got there, Bay 7! Ductwork!"

"What? I AM DON! You know that! We have...Bay 7?" No one went to Bay 7. It was an empty bay. What were they laying duct work for? A ghost plane?

"Yeah, small crew, Bay 7, that's the list. MOVE IT!"

Despite himself he felt a shiver go down his spine at that tone. How did the foreman do that?! He was going to learn, yes. He NEEDED to know how to do that. "YOU HEARD HIM CREW!"

"Yeah Don, yeah, we heard! GOING NOW!"

Don flashed a grin around as the boys headed out then scampered ahead so he could be the FIRST one in Bay 7. Seriously, who wouldn't want to know? It was Bay 7 it was LEGEND and STORY and..."Empty?"

The boys peered through the bay doors as well before Ratchet finally kicked a stone through. The sudden noise of it rattling off the far wall made them all wince, "What?" Matty Dog whined, "It coulda been invisible!"

"You're crazy Matt, Shut up I am thinking now!" Don slapped the boy as a matter of course while the rest took up the call of 'Mad Dog Mad Dog Matty!'. That was just how it worked some days.

"Shut up brats!" The head engineer spoke from behind them, "It hasn't been built yet. Foreman says you've got a good group that can keep your yaps shut."

Don's ear twitched at that particular statement but he grinned anyway, a flash of dawn creeping through the windows behind him, "I give you my word of course!"

"Good, this leaks and you won't work in this town again," the engineer growled. "You've never seen anything like this, it'll be bigger than anything out there when it's done. Here, today we're just painting the assembly lines on the floor..."

"Men! Get the Brushes! Not you Mad Dog, you get the paint, NOW!" Hah! That last word snapped out well didn't it? Practice would make perfect surely! They were certainly moving like he was worth listening to! Haha! "So, tell me about this...plane?"

"Heh, yeah, you're a brat," the engineer snorted. "It'll be a damn ship. Planes'll be damn toys. Start pacing, give me...hell, you're short, give me a ninety count with your legs in a straight line."

"A ship..." Don mused, turning to pace. "That has a good sound yes?" Oh yes.