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that!
    Things had gone from bad to worse at light speed. And before I could figure out how to stopsomething going 186,282 miles per second, Mrs. Bernhart, Miss Simms, and a bunch of other teachers started shooing kids off to class. “Didn’t you hear the bell? Go! Go! Go! You’ll all be tardy!”

    My dad ruffled my hair and said, “Have a good day, Nolan! See you tonight.”
    Mr. Green caught up to me before I got in lineoutside Room 22. “Nolan!” he whispered. “What were you
thinking?.
”
    “I didn’t spray that!” I whispered back.
    “I mean about the site. I got your e-mail this morning.”
    I shrugged. “I was trying to make him mad.”
    He laughed, but it wasn’t a funny laugh. “Well, you did a good job! And he sure turned the tables on you!”
    “I know! But how can people think that
Shredderman
did that?”
    “People jump to conclusions, Nolan.”
    “Well, tell them he didn’t do it!”
    “Me?” He pointed to himself. “I can’t tell them! I’m the Bouncer, remember?”
    “But—”
    “And the truth is, I’m feeling pretty uptight about all this. I’m not exactly Dr. Voss’s favorite teacher to begin with, you know.”
    I didn’t know. But now that he said it, it didmake sense. She was never very friendly to him, that’s for sure. And she’d been pretty
mean
to him about his van.
    Kids in line were starting to look around for him, so I said, “Don’t worry, okay? I’ll fix every-thing. I promise!”
    He looked at me like my mom does when I tell her I know how to make my own lunch, then hurried to unlock the door.

CHAPTER 12
Mom and Dad Boot Up
    By the time I got home from school, I felt weaker than a mortal. Forget superpowers—I was like Superman surrounded by kryptonite. What was I going to
dot
    Mom took one look at me and said, “Honey! What’s wrong?”
    I just sat down on the floor, backpack and all.
    She felt my forehead. “Are you coming down with something?”
    I shrugged, sighed, and lay down on the floor.
    “Nolan!” She pulled me up. “Honey?”
    “I’m okay, Mom,” I finally said. “Just really tired.” I was, too. Superhero or not, three hours’ sleep is not enough.

    She peeled off my shoes and dragged me to bed. “You get some sleep, young man.” She felt my forehead again and said, “I’ll check on you at dinnertime.”
    I must have snored through a time warp, because I swear she never left. One minute she’s sitting on the edge of my bed, feeling my fore’ head, saying, “You get some sleep,” and the nextminute she’s
still
on the edge of my bed, feeling my forehead, but now she’s saying, “Honey? Honey, time to wake up.”
    The smell of dinner was floating through the air. “Spaghetti?” I asked.
    “Lasagna.”
    I sat up. “Really?”
    She laughed and said, “Feeling better?”
    I swung out of bed. “Lots!”
    “Good! You had me a little worried. And,” she added, “your father is quite anxious to talk to you.
    Uh-oh. I stopped in my tracks.
    “About Shredderman,” she said.
    Un-double-oh. “Shredderman?” I said as innocently as I could.
    She shook her head. “Don’t ask me—never heard of the guy before.”
    “Hi, Dad,” I said when I sat down next to him at the table.
    “Nolan! There you are!” He scooped a big square of lasagna onto his plate. “Your mom says you were wiped out when you got home from school.”
    “I’m okay now.”
    “Glad to hear it.” He put some lasagna on my plate. “So, tell me—what do you know about Shredderman?”
    I shrugged. “Not much.”
    “Hmmm.” He served Mom. “Well, I’m getting conflicting reports. Some of the kids at your school told me he was trying to stop the Tagger. Other kids say he
is
the Tagger.” He frowned. “Dr. Voss seems to think he’s an all-around menace. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
    “How come?”
    “I don’t know,” he said. “She was in a pretty agitated state of mind when I tried to ask her about it—complained a lot about some Web