Later that night, Spirou and Fantasio had then driven back home to their apartment in town. It felt good for them to finally be back home, where they could finally be themselves for a change. Surely, their fame was going to wear down eventually. But it wasn't anything they wouldn't be interested in. But a little story shouldn't be that bigger than anything. Would it?

"Finally, we're home now. I'm beat," Fantasio said as he flopped down on the couch. "Easy for you to say. That interview must've taken a lot of energy from you," Spirou said while picking up the phone.

"What are you doing now?" Fantasio asked, plunking a magazine in front of his eyes. "You want any takeout?" Spirou asked as he dialed up a number on his phone. "I'm just ordering our dinner now." "Yea, you can do that," Fantasio said, picking up the remote. "I'll just be over here, seeing what's on right now." Fantasio then began flipping through various channels on the television as Spirou spoke over the phone.

"Yes, can I order some Chinese food to go? I can? Okay, then I'll have the usual please. Have it delivered to a Mr. Spirou. Okay. Good night."

About half an hour later, Spirou was on the couch reading, where he had already laid out several boxes of Chinese takeout on the table. "All right, the food's here! I'm starving," Fantasio said as he prepared to take his box. Spirou eyed him suspiciously. "You washed your hands?" Spirou asked. Grumbling, Fantasio darted for the kitchen and hastily wet his hands. He then went to reach for the box again, only for Spirou to stop him short.

"And you washed them with soap?" He asked. Fantasio then went to the kitchen again and lathered his hands with soap and rinsed them out. Fantasio then went for the box again, to have Spirou ask him, "And did you dry them?" "Fine!" Fantasio cried out as he rapidly waved his hands, drying them.

Fantasio then reached for the takeout box and sighed in dismay. "Hey, why'd you give me the beef and vegetable stir fry with the noodles?!" Fantasio asked. "I had to," Spirou said, slurping up a noodle. "The vegetables are good for you, and you're going to have some." "At least you didn't forget the egg rolls," Fantasio muttered, eyeing the rolls on the plate before him.

"Look Fanta, can't we just relax? And eat? While the food's still hot?" Spirou asked. "And let's see what's on the news tonight." He then pressed a button on the remote, and the channel immediately changed to the news. The two boys then found that Seccotine was now headlining the news.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Seccotine said in the television. "And welcome to tonight's news. I'm Seccotine, and I'll be taking over our top news." Fantasio sighed. "Well, if it isn't our nosy reporter friend," Fantasio muttered. "Sometimes I can't even bear to hear her doing her job better than we are."

"Here's our top story today," Seccotine was narrating, "involving the whereabouts that we have recently uncovered about top archeologist Alexandre Dufresne." At that moment, Fantasio sat upright, listening. "Here, I'll go change the channel," Spirou said, lifting the remote. "DON'T CHANGE IT!" Fantasio exclaimed, slapping the remote out of Spirou's hand. "Geez, you don't have to be so violent about it," Spirou grumbled.

"So far, I believe everyone had known the story of renown archeologist Alexandre Dufresne," Seccotine announced, "because he is perhaps a man of high standards. At the age of 16, he had discovered the ancient tomb of the famed Egyptian pharaoh Ahmenhotep. He also became the first person to ever discover the Canyon of Lost Souls at age 18, as well as uncover the largest digging site for unearthing dinosaurs at the age of 21. Alexandre Dufresne is also the youngest archeologist to ever obtain the Champignac Medal of Innovation and Discovery, the highest honor he has ever received for pioneering a method of mixing technology with his digging paractices."

Fantasio smiled as he munched on the carrots and broccoli smothered in teriyaki sauce. "Sounds like he could be friends with the Count," he said.

"And developing today," Seccotine said, "Alexandre Dufresne has decided to do the impossible, which people thought he could never accomplish. Dufresne had announced that he would become the first archeologist to circumnavigate the globe and discover new archeological finds, and with no assistance of a GPS!" "Wow! That's impossible!" Spirou said. "But if anyone could do it, he can!" Fantasio said.

"Dufresne has capped off the ceremony as he embarked on his life-changing journey, dedicating the event to his parents, who had helped him get to where he was that day," Seccotine then read on. "But, after five months of attempting to achieve his lifelong dream, Alexandre Dufresne has now been reported missing."

Fantasio nearly spit out his drink at the mention of Alexandre Dufresne being reported missing. "What?!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, it's true, ladies and gentlemen," Seccotine read. "What was thought to have been the greatest accomplishment in human history has now been engulfed with mystery. Dufresne has been maintaining contact with his colleagues via radio for five months, until one day, they had suddenly lost contact with him, as explained by the audio feedback we've managed to intercept here. This was recorded months after Dufresne had gone off the radar." Then, Seccotine pressed a button on a remote that displayed two feedback signals on the monitor above her.

First: static.

Then, the audio began.

"Oy Dufresne, how fare are you into this mission?" The first line had spoken. "It's still going on, Bocquelet," the second wave spoke. "I've already navigated through the Appalachians, I'm still in the Pacific, heading to South America."

"Crazy, ain't it? I can't believe you decided to go on this mission."

"I know, right? It's amazing how far we've gotten."

A brief pause for a moment of time.

Back on.

"Hey Dufresne, seems as if you've managed to check off South America and rollin' around the Atlantic. See anything yet?"

"No! I'm so far ahead, I can barely see what's next in store."

"Anyways, how are you coming along with each transmission from every part you've visited?"

"I've completed some. There are still more to come, because I've just made it into Taiwan—"

"What's the matter, Dufresne? You all right?"

"Yea. Just a little...Hey."

"What?"

"There's something above me. It's really well hidden in the clouds."

"Can you try to see it?"

"Wait a second, that's a hovercraft! What is it doing here?!"

"I don't know."

"Wait a second, now there's someone coming out of it. They're dressed in black."

"Don't move. It's always best to stay put. They can be suspicious folk."

"Bocquelet, if anything happens, tell my—" The audio was then cut off by static feedback.

"Dufresne! Dufresne! What's going on?!" More static.

"Dufresne, are you all right? Please respond! What's happening?!"

Seccotine shook her head as she paused the audio. "After that transmission, it was then declared that Alexandre Dufresne was missing after that," she said. "Bocquelet had made the voyage to Taiwan to see if there were any witnesses of the incident. Unfortunately, no one else had seen what had happened. Condolences were sent out to Alexandre's family, who were heartbroken at the news.

"And that concludes the top story for today," Seccotine said. "Now, onto the weather."

Spirou lowered the volume of the television. Only Fantasio was left in a state of shock.

"I...I can't believe it," Fantasio said, eating the last morsels of his food. "Alexandre Dufresne has gone missing? I-I knew he would've gone on some big adventures like this, but..." Fantasio looked back at the television screen again. "It's a pretty big deal now," Spirou said, switching off the television. "It isn't every day you find out someone who's been famous completely disappear from the face of the earth. It's confusing."

"You're right," Fantasio said, picking up the empty takeout boxes and proceeding to throw them away. Then suddenly, a thought hit him. "But you know what else is confusing?" He asked Spirou.

"What's that?" Spirou asked as he was washing the dishes.

"It also doesn't make sense that we don't also know what that vessel was doing in the first place," Fantasio said. "In that radio transmission, he said something about people coming out of it. He couldn't specify who they were, or for which organization they were working for. So that means that that clue alone is what's missing to the puzzle. Maybe that's why the transmission was cut off!"

"Wait, Fantasio. This isn't going to turn into one of your big mysteries, okay?" Spirou told him as he kept dipping his hands into the soap-filled pool in the sink. "We don't even know who it was that supposedly captured Alexandre, nor do we know where that craft is being headed. Maybe we should wait until the police finds out about it. Then, who knows? Maybe they'll know something about that incident."

"But," Fantasio said, "they might just have to wait as well. Maybe we can find the mystery before them!"

"Oh yea?" Spirou asked. "How do you suppose we do that?"

"I..." Fantasio started to say. But then, he paused short. This would, indeed, be a big mystery for him and Spirou.

"I don't know."

...

"Fantasio, how could you just say that?! What do you mean you don't know?"

"Okay okay, I may have been way in over my head a little. I'm just saying; if we can get a scoop on that mystery, we can just go right ahead and get with it."

"But what about evidence?"

"I'm getting to that!"

Later that night, Spirou and Fantasio had prepared to retire for the night. Spirou had already changed into his pajamas, and Fantasio was barely brushing his teeth. But the question as to how they were going with the Dufresne case was still on their minds. And now they were arguing about it before bed.

"You can't just say you don't know what you're going to do in regards to solving this mystery," Spirou said as he laid on his bed. "You'd have to be prepared to know what kind of resources you need to use before you go off trying to solve it yourself." "Okay, maybe I just want to get to the mystery before Seccotine does," Fantasio said, his mouth full of soapy toothpaste.

"I'm just trying to let you think this over before you go through with it," Spirou said.

"Yes, I'm going to think this over," Fantasio said. Then, he rinsed out his mouth.

As Fantasio went to the bedroom, he clambered on to his bed. "So run that by me again," Fantasio said. "Tell me again how we're going to do this."

"Like I said before, we need to think this over before we just take off, trying to find out where it was that that vessel was taking Dufresne," Spirou said. "We'll need to find the sources necessary to find all the pieces of the puzzle so we can piece them together and find the clues to..."

Spirou paused, for he saw Fantasio sleeping. He shook his head.

"My gosh, Fantasio," Spirou said. "You're impossible." He then switched off the bedside lamp and pulled the covers to his arms. "Fantasio," he whispered, "you really are a smart fool. A smart, hopeless fool." After he had said that, Spirou then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.