Free Enemy Spy by Wendelin Van Draanen Page B

site, it wasn't like there really was a Shredderman anymore.
    Shredderman was… over.
    I didn't really miss it at first. I was too busy! The FBI came over and wiped the secret docu-ment scans out of my computer.
    FBI guys are quick on the computer. Wow!
    Then they kept someone posted at our house because they thought the spy guy might come looking for me.
    But two days later, a fourth-grade girl spotted the spy guy at a gas station in New Mexico. She'd recognized him from pictures she'd seen on my Web site and called the FBI!
    How cool is that!
    But mostly I didn't miss having a secret identity because people at school seemed to like my
real
identity. Kids greeted me with, “Hi, Nolan,”and “Hey, Shredderman,”and “Dude, you rock!”Everyone was saying how cool I was!
    Mom worried that kids were just being nice to me because I was now an official celebrity, but I could tell which ones were kissing up to me and which ones were finally just seeing me for me.
    I'm no dummy!
    So for the first time in my life, I had people to hang around with at school. People to do assign-ments with. People to eat lunch with!
    Having friends is
fun.
    But after about a week it started to sink in— Shredderman was toast.

    History.
    I'd never be able to wear the mask again.
    Mom told me I'd find other ways to fight for truth and justice, but boy, doing it as Shredder-man had been so exciting! It made me sad to think that it was over.
    Then, one day after school, I was clicking through my site, thinking that it was really time to tear it all down, when my speakers chimed.
    I had e-mail.
    I clicked on the in-box tab.
    It was a message from
Shredderman2.
    At first I was confused. Had I accidentally sent myself an e-mail? I opened it and read:
    Yo, Shredderman! You've been an inspiration,
    man! Check out my site!
    Shredderman2.com
    Yours in Truth and Justice,
    Shredderman2
    I couldn't believe my eyes.
    Shredderman-
Two
?
    Cool!
    I clicked on the site. There were only a few pages, but still, it was awesome! The guy had caught someone selling cigarettes in his school's bathroom. Now their dirty deeds were posted on the World Wide Web.
    Oh, yeah!
    I wrote him back right away—
“Shred on, ShreddermanH Awesome!”
—but just as I sent the message, my speakers chimed again.
    More mail.
    I blinked at my screen. The new message was from
Shredderdude.
    Shredderdude? Cool!
    Over the next few weeks, I got messages from kids shredding on bad guys all over the globe! A kid in England was
ShreddermanUK.
Someone in Australia was
ShredderAussie.
There was a
ShreddermanNY
, a
SeñorShredder
, and then
    Shredderman,3
and
4,
and
5,
and
6
… the numbers kept going up!
    Girls got into it, too. There were Shreddergirls and Shredderchicks and Shredder
babes
… that was kind of embarrassing, but they all wanted the same thing: to help fight for truth and justice.
    They also wanted information!
    How did I get such close-up shots?
    How did I convert my backpack?
    What kind of camera did I use?
    So I told them everything I could. I gave them ideas! Advice! I told them about my adventures!

    And they told me what they were up to, and why!
    I felt like I was helping shred on bad guys all over the world!
    Way back when
no
one knew my secret identity, Mr. Green told our class that the beauty of Shredderman was that he could be
any
one. He could be the person next to you, the person across the room from you, the person at your bus stop… anyone.
    And now I know that what he said is true. Shredderman used to be me, but now it's kids I've

    never met, all over the globe! And who knows? Maybe things will come full circle and the next Shredderman will appear at my school.
    Or yours!
    As long as there are kids who are willing to fight for truth and justice, it'll never be curtains for Shredderman.
    So boot up your computer!
    Strap on the mask!
    Inside all of us, Shredderman lives!



Published by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children's Books
a division of Random