Meet the Gecko Read Online Free Page B

of slime across the pages of honest journalism! Lawsuits don't stop him—he oozes out of them. And now we know why! The Mole is really a Slug! Help expose him for who he is! Forward this picture to every journalist, paper, reporter, or celebrity you know! Let's show the world who Joel “the Mole” Bowl really is!
    Yours in truth and justice,

Shredderman
    I added all the e-mail addresses I found to the To box.
    There were a lot!
    I spell-checked everything and was in themiddle of giving my mass mailing a final inspection when…
    Knock-knock-knock!
    I banged my knee.
    I spun around.
    Mom peeked into my room. “Where's my birthday boy?”
    “Mo-om!”
    She came in. “Don't you Mo-om me!” She gave me a squeaky smooch on my cheek and said, “I heard you had an outstanding adventure today. Tell me all about it!”
    “I have to finish this first.”
    She squatted next to my chair and looked at the monitor. “Your dad said you were busy shredding on some sleazy reporter. Can I see?”
    “Uh…”
    “Don't worry! I may not be your sidekick, but I
am
in your corner. Let's see.”
    So I showed her. And she loved the Slug-Mole! But when she saw my message and all the people I was sending it to, she started fidgeting.
    Her smile turned twitchy.
    Her eyes went into hyper-blink.
    She said a lot of Uhs and Buts and Do-you-thinks, and finally she just came out and said, “I don't think this is such a good idea, Nolan. I know you've spent all day on it, but I don't want him to
sue
us.”
    I scowled at her. Fear holds no power over the pursuit of truth and justice!
    “Mo-om!”
    “I'm serious, Nolan. Let me talk this over with your dad, okay?”
    “No!”
    Her eyebrows flew to the ceiling.
    Her jaw dropped to the floor.
    But I held my ground. “He's not going to sue us! He doesn't even know who I am!”
    “But—”
    “He's a jerk! A liar! He's made up stories about people for years!”
    “But—”
    “He gets a picture of someone blinking and says they're on drugs! He takes a head and puts it on someone else's body. He photographs people reaching for something and says they're stealing it. You should read all the things I found on the Internet today! People are really hurt by him, and nobody seems to be able to stop him! Even The Gecko's afraid of him! He hides in his room because he's afraid to go out.”
    “Oh, I don't believe that.”
    “It's true!”
    “But, Nolan—”
    I crossed my arms and frowned at her. “You're making me wish I'd never told you I was Shredderman.”
    She was quiet.

    “Mom,” I said softly. “I want to stop him. You should want to stop him, too.”
    “But…”
    “Sometimes you have to risk a little in the search for truth and justice.”
    She looked in my eyes. She looked long and hard.
    I didn't blink.
    I didn't look away.
    I just sat there, steady.
    Finally she took a deep breath and eyed my computer monitor. “It's all ready to go?”
    I nodded.
    She stared at it another minute, then reached over and took my mouse.
    I wanted to grab it away from her!
    She moved the pointer until it hovered over Send.
    What was she doing?
    “May I?” she asked me.
    Now she
wanted
to send it? But…I looked at the pointer. I looked at her. I'd spent my whole birthday putting this e-mail together—
I
wanted to click on Send. The moment of Send is the grand finale! Just thinking about the information zipping around the world faster than I can blink makes my head float. It's mind-boggling! Astounding!
    I
love
clicking the Send button!
    But there was my mom, with her hand on my mouse, the pointer hovering over Send.
    She had a grin on her face.
    She looked like a kid.
    A happy kid.
    And I could tell that she wasn't doing this just because it was my birthday.
    She was doing it because truth and justice were important to her, too.
    More important than getting into trouble.

    So finally I nodded and said, “Go ahead.”
    And with that, she clicked, and my
Mole Alert
message flew around the