Ballio II: Return of the Great Wonder Wizard

In our last episode, Crimino had squandered the Wonder Dust, leaving Ballio to market his balls elsewhere, Zorphine to try to salvage what he had left to fulfill his dream of making Wonder Balls, and the Great Wonder Wizard rich with Wonder Dust, but with nothing upon which to sprinkle his treasure.

It wasn't long before Zorphine and the Great Wonder Wizard determined that they could do little without Ballio's balls, so each began to seek ways in which they could compel Ballio to give up his balls and claim them as their own.

Zorphine went to consult with Jinno, interpreter of the law, and they together concluded that the balls could be theirs by simply saying it was so.

At this, the Great Wonder Wizard consulted with his large army of interpreters of the law, and they had uncovered a magic scroll which granted to the Great Wonder Wizard the claim that the balls were his.

Upon hearing of this, Ballio contacted Boormund, known to all as the mysterious wise man in the cave. With the help of some of the villagers who sympathized with Ballio's plight, Ballio and Boormund uncovered another magic scroll, identical to that which the Great Wonder Wizard had, and began to study its secrets.

The magic scroll did indeed seem to grant the balls to the Great Wonder Wizard, and not to Zorphine or Ballio; but there was another secret that the magic scroll had yet to reveal--the Secret of the Code of Knowledge and Labor.

Only those with the purest of motives could see the Secret Code of Knowledge and Labor, and so it revealed itself to Ballio and Boormund. As it emerged from the scroll as handwriting that suspended itself in the air like a cloud, it slowly began to take shape...clearer...clearer...clearer.

It read:

Seek, seek, oh seekers
And soon you will find the door
For the balls indeed belong
To him that holds their core

At first, this was a puzzle. Ballio began to think about the balls and how they came to be, and therein the answer was hidden: while there were many balls and ball makers in all of Playton, only Ballio was a true core-maker. Balls could not exist without his core.

But more importantly, balls were never made until he first made cores. The cores were his, and his alone, for no one instructed him to create them. They were a product of his initiative and great love for Playton, along with his desire to enable balls of all kinds, some of which he had begun creating before Zorphine or the Great Wonder Wizard knew the value of balls with Wonder Dust.

So, Ballio and Boormund knew they could prevail, but knew just as well that Zorphine and the Great Wonder Wizard would not give up without a struggle. After all, Zorphine still had some Wonder Dust and balls in his possession, and the Great Wonder Wizard had his mighty army of interpreters of the law.

But again, Ballio had help from corners far and wide who knew that he was in the right. Among them was Stelman, mighty interpreter of the law--a giant who, by himself, was a formidable foe to the Great Wonder Wizard's mighty army of interpreters of the law. The people of Playton also agreed to help Ballio in his epic struggle, and the stage was set for the clash of these three titanic forces.

Now, faithful Agleteers, I must ask you to be patient as you await the next sequel to this story of war, peace, and intrigue, and the world of the Supreme Aglet is once again in perfect balance.