Chester Pinkerton. A man with a problem. A man who can’t have any real friends. His secrets run too deep. And he can’t talk about them. Ever. Words cannot describe the loneliness, the frustration, the galactic sense of inferiority. But maybe there’s hope.
It’s the low-rent industrial part of town. Night. Chester checks a card in his hand. It has an address on it. He looks up at the sign. Nope. Another few blocks. Pan down to the newspaper he steps on: EVIL RAMPAGE OVERNIGHT.
Chester checks the next sign. It’s the right alley. But it looks scary. Chester hesitates, a bit nervous. This is the kind of place where– best not to think about that. He steels himself, steps into the lane. He checks the card again. He looks up at the number painted on the bricks over the door by the ramp. This is the one. Beside the door is a battered aluminum button mounted in a battered aluminum plate. With a deep breath, Chester pushes it.
BZZZZZZT!
AAAAGH! A scream from within. Three seconds of silence. Chester checks the button suspiciously. Suddenly, a small eye-level Alcatraz-style metal slide slams open. A pair of deep-set eyes peer out. A cough sounds faintly from within.
Chester holds up the card. The slide slams shut. Three more seconds of silence, and the door opens. A well-dressed butler harumphs and turns to lead Chester into the darkness.
It’s not a nice place. Rather dingy. The butler looks decidedly out of place. And Chester feels decidedly out of place. It seems like this passage goes on forever, past half-demolished rooms, over puddles and electrical wiring, under dangling drywall and light fixtures, 17% of which are functioning. He’s going somewhere almost no person on earth knows about. A place so secret, you have to know where it is to find it.
Chester is the brother of Peter Pinkerton, alter-ego of Formidiman, super-hero, and nemesis to only one man. Chester. Who has to keep his brother’s secret identity secret. Who has to live in the shadow of his far superior sibling. Who can’t talk to anyone. Until now.
Finally, Chester is entering the super-secret headquarters of Super-Anon, the support group for families of super-heroes. This is where he will finally find the only people on earth who could ever qualify to be his peers.
