Chapter 1
The Trouble Begins
I knew I was in trouble when they showed my Web site on the evening news. It wasn't just the local news, either. It was
national
news.
All of a sudden, Shredderman—uh, that would be
me
as a mighty-muscled superhero—flew across the TV screen in a mask and a purple cape.
Then the
shredderman.com
banner fluttered onto the screen and my sidekick, the Bouncer— who is really,
shhhhh,
Mr. Green, my
teacher
— flexed his muscles and rocked out to the Shredderman theme song.
Brrong… b-brong… br-hr-br-br-br-br-br-hrong.
Mr. Green can really shred on guitar!
The newscaster cut into the song, saying, “Youmay have heard of him…. He goes by the name of Shredderman, and seems to be taking the nation by storm. With Shredderman we have a new breed of superhero. He is, if you will, a
cyber-
superhero—a cutting-edge combination of computer wizardry and vigilantism. With more on this self-proclaimed Champion of Truth and Justice, we turn to correspondent Chatty Adams.”
“That's her!”I cried. “That's the pushy lady who was at school today!”
Mom looked at Dad.
Dad looked at Mom.
“Her name's
Chatty
?”
I shrugged and kept watching the TV. What did I care if she had a stupid name? What did she know about Shredderman—that's what I was worried about.
“Thanks, Brian,”Chatty said into the camera. “I'm at an elementary school in the quaint townof Cedar Valley, California, where it all began. It seems that Shredderman's quest for truth and jus-tice started when he rescued students here from the classic bad guy—a bully. Apparently he did this by posting the bully's deeds on the World Wide Web, challenging the school's administrators to finally do something about him. Earlier today I asked some students what they thought of Shredderman, and who they suspect this super-hero might really be. Here's what they had to say.”
They switched to a taped segment, and all of a sudden two of my classmates—Ian McCoy and Randy Ricardo—were on TV. “Yeah,”Ian said. “Some kids don't like Shredderman, but those are mostly the ones who got in trouble because of him. The rest of us think Shredderman's totally cool.”
“Do you have any idea who he is?”Chatty asked.
“We used to think he was our teacher, Mr. Green—”
“—but it's not,”Randy said. “Mr. Green's a hippie.”
“
Then
we thought it was our computer lab teacher, Miss Surkit—”
“—but it's not,”Randy said. “Miss Surkit's way too short to be a superhero!”
Marvin Speltz's head popped up in between Randy and Ian. “You thought it was Miss
Surkit?
Can you see Miss Surkit posting Bubba's Big Butt on the World Wide Web? She'd get fired! I think it's Mr. Hoover.”
“The
janitor
?”Randy and Ian said together.
“Dude. He is
way
into computers,”Marvin said.
Chatty Adams was now back live, saying, “As you can see, Brian, there's wide speculation about who is operating behind the Shredderman mask.”
“What do the adults think?”the newscaster asked.
“I spoke to a few teachers, but they seem to know about as much as the kids. And the principal”— Chatty looked at her notes—“Dr. Ivana Voss”— she looked back at the camera—“refused to be interviewed.”Chatty smiled with only one side of her mouth and said, “I've since found out that Dr. Voss's own
son
went head to head with Shred-derman. I don't have to tell you who won.”
The newscaster laughed. “No wonder she didn't want to talk to you!”
“Exactly, Brian. And although there are a few people who disagree with Shredderman's tactics, by and large this community seems to think he is one cool dude.”
“It sounds like the students have considered that Shredderman might be a woman.
…
What about the possibility that Shredder
man
is really a
boy
?”
“I asked kids that exact question, and here's what they had to say.”
My heart started pounding.
My knees felt like jelly.
They ran more of the school tape and
The Trouble Begins
I knew I was in trouble when they showed my Web site on the evening news. It wasn't just the local news, either. It was
national
news.
All of a sudden, Shredderman—uh, that would be
me
as a mighty-muscled superhero—flew across the TV screen in a mask and a purple cape.
Then the
shredderman.com
banner fluttered onto the screen and my sidekick, the Bouncer— who is really,
shhhhh,
Mr. Green, my
teacher
— flexed his muscles and rocked out to the Shredderman theme song.
Brrong… b-brong… br-hr-br-br-br-br-br-hrong.
Mr. Green can really shred on guitar!
The newscaster cut into the song, saying, “Youmay have heard of him…. He goes by the name of Shredderman, and seems to be taking the nation by storm. With Shredderman we have a new breed of superhero. He is, if you will, a
cyber-
superhero—a cutting-edge combination of computer wizardry and vigilantism. With more on this self-proclaimed Champion of Truth and Justice, we turn to correspondent Chatty Adams.”
“That's her!”I cried. “That's the pushy lady who was at school today!”
Mom looked at Dad.
Dad looked at Mom.
“Her name's
Chatty
?”
I shrugged and kept watching the TV. What did I care if she had a stupid name? What did she know about Shredderman—that's what I was worried about.
“Thanks, Brian,”Chatty said into the camera. “I'm at an elementary school in the quaint townof Cedar Valley, California, where it all began. It seems that Shredderman's quest for truth and jus-tice started when he rescued students here from the classic bad guy—a bully. Apparently he did this by posting the bully's deeds on the World Wide Web, challenging the school's administrators to finally do something about him. Earlier today I asked some students what they thought of Shredderman, and who they suspect this super-hero might really be. Here's what they had to say.”
They switched to a taped segment, and all of a sudden two of my classmates—Ian McCoy and Randy Ricardo—were on TV. “Yeah,”Ian said. “Some kids don't like Shredderman, but those are mostly the ones who got in trouble because of him. The rest of us think Shredderman's totally cool.”
“Do you have any idea who he is?”Chatty asked.
“We used to think he was our teacher, Mr. Green—”
“—but it's not,”Randy said. “Mr. Green's a hippie.”
“
Then
we thought it was our computer lab teacher, Miss Surkit—”
“—but it's not,”Randy said. “Miss Surkit's way too short to be a superhero!”
Marvin Speltz's head popped up in between Randy and Ian. “You thought it was Miss
Surkit?
Can you see Miss Surkit posting Bubba's Big Butt on the World Wide Web? She'd get fired! I think it's Mr. Hoover.”
“The
janitor
?”Randy and Ian said together.
“Dude. He is
way
into computers,”Marvin said.
Chatty Adams was now back live, saying, “As you can see, Brian, there's wide speculation about who is operating behind the Shredderman mask.”
“What do the adults think?”the newscaster asked.
“I spoke to a few teachers, but they seem to know about as much as the kids. And the principal”— Chatty looked at her notes—“Dr. Ivana Voss”— she looked back at the camera—“refused to be interviewed.”Chatty smiled with only one side of her mouth and said, “I've since found out that Dr. Voss's own
son
went head to head with Shred-derman. I don't have to tell you who won.”
The newscaster laughed. “No wonder she didn't want to talk to you!”
“Exactly, Brian. And although there are a few people who disagree with Shredderman's tactics, by and large this community seems to think he is one cool dude.”
“It sounds like the students have considered that Shredderman might be a woman.
…
What about the possibility that Shredder
man
is really a
boy
?”
“I asked kids that exact question, and here's what they had to say.”
My heart started pounding.
My knees felt like jelly.
They ran more of the school tape and
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