The story revolves around our hero, who I see as Buckethead. Not quite the Buckethead we know, but a younger one that is still learning the sonic arts through his Mentor. Together they were the ones that found and took the 13th scroll, which was said to contain the location of the first 'Master'. These Masters are dark leaders of evil armies, and have been slowly taking over more and more space. Realising they must be stopped at all costs, Buckethead's Mentor decrees it is time to set out to find and destroy them once and for all.

1) Desert - Buckethead and his Mentor arrive at the desert containing the Master’s fortress and city, lead there by the 13th scroll, which was said to contain the location of the first two masters, but it’s writing only contained one. But believing the knowledge to reveal itself at the chosen time, the Mentor and Buckethead travel onwards into the desert, searching for the city.

2) False Radian Cross - Finding the city they sneak in and head towards the center, where the Master’s fortress is located, on a small island shaped like a cross. It is a towering structure made up of several large towers with slanted walls, resembling stretched pyramids, connected back and forth with waste tubes, rising far above the city.

3) Poison Wind - The entrances to the fortress are heavily guarded , so Buckethead and his Mentor begin to climb the slanted walls of the fort, rising higher and higher. As they ascend towards the top the desert winds begin to buffet them more and more, threatening to pitch them to their death down below. Eventually they must enter the building through a barred window as the winds make further climbing impossible.

4) Hellchop to Blind Claw - They realize their mistake instantly when they realize that the barred ‘window’ was not there to keep people out, but to keep something in. They have entered the lair of the Master’s pet, Blind Claw. A ferocious beast 30’ tall with razor sharp claws, teeth and a mantle of crowns framing his head, Blind Claw, while blind, has a great sense of smell and senses intruders and immediately charges Buckethead and his Mentor with a roar of fury. Together Buckethead and his Mentor battle Blind Claw with the deadly sonic arts and their guitars and after a long fight manage to kill the foul monster, but not before landing a fatal blow to his Mentor. With his last breath the Mentor bequeaths his ancient guitar to Buckethead, tells him to continue his journey and tells Buckethead how honored he was to have him as a student.

5) The Funeral - Covering his Mentor’s now still face with his cloak, Buckethead spends a minute in silent mourning, remembering everything he had gone through with him. But in the end he knows he must go on, as the Master must be defeated so his Mentor’s death was not in vain.

6) Beware of the Holding Funnel - Reaching the top of the tower, Buckethead looks up to see the tallest tower still rising far above him, and the winds preventing him from climbing. Buckethead takes to the waste tubes connecting the towers to reach the Master. After dodging waves of debris and deadly funnels that are used to store and dispose of the waste, Buckethead arrives in the last tower.

7) Traitor’s Gate - Remembering a story his Mentor told him of a group of traitors that attempted the same thing Buckethead was now trying, to destroy the evil master, Buckethead finds the old gate that allowed them access to the master’s throne room. Memories flood his mind as he passes through the gate, the scene of a valiant fight that ended in death for the traitors.

8) Moonflake - Reaching the roof Buckethead finds night has fallen and under the glow of the twin moons Buckethead makes his way to the Master’s throne room, out on a parapet overlooking the city down below. He gets his Mentor’s guitar out and prepares for the upcoming battle.

9) First Master - Reaching the master, Buckethead declares he is there to put and end to the evil that is the Master. Standing up, the master asks if Buckethead still wishes to fight, and that he isn’t afraid to kill Buckethead, as there is no death. With these odd words echoing in his mind he battles and defeats the master.

10) Splinter Pool - The force of the battle caused the entire fortress to go up in alarm, and Buckethead won't be able to get out the way he came in. He uses his guitar to keep the guards at bay but they are slowly closing in. With no options left Buckethead tears up a metal plate from the roof and dives off the roof with it, riding the wall like a surfer riding a wave, using his guitar to steer himself down as he plummets towards the city, a wave of sparks spraying behind him in a plume. With a jarring hit that almost throws him from the plate Buckethead slams into the road, grinding into the city while tearing up the concrete.

11) Notorious Swade - His mentor had mentioned should anything go wrong, they were to find a man named ‘Swade’, who owned a bar in the shadier part of the city, he would get them out. Following the light and music Buckethead finds the bar, and just in time as the Master’s guards are getting closer and closer. Entering the bar Buckethead moves through the crowd and finds Swade’s office, where he explains the situation. The sound of the front door being battered down is all the motivation Swade needs. He presses a button a piece of wall slides in then to the side, showing a passage in the wall. With a thanks Buckethead plunges into the darkness and the door closes behind him.

12) Blood Scroll - The tunnel leads Buckethead back to the desert and he sets off for the ship he arrived in. A ship spots him, and within minutes the signs of pursuit are obvious as all manner of troops and vehicles leave the city. Arriving at his ship he finds the sand had given way during the night and the ship tumbled down the slope, damaging the ship. Time seems to slow to a crawl as the ship begins to repair it’s drive and the enemy closes in. Success! With a roar the engines begin to flare to life and the ship rises into the air. With a kick the ship flies forward, avoiding a barrage of enemy fire. Buckethead will need to escape from the enemy to leave the planet, as it will take several minutes to break the planets gravity well, which would leave him an open target. Speeding across the desert Buckethead notices a large range of mountains, and spots a rather large cave. Without a second thought Buckethead swerves for the cave, hoping to lose them inside it. Darkness closes around him as he enters and now he is driving with only the ship’s sensors to guide him. Out of nowhere a spire of stone looms in front of the ship, and Buckethead tries to swerve to avoid it. With a grinding noise the ship slams through the spire and crashes to the ground. On impact Buckethead is thrown forward onto the console, cutting his side open on a sharp edge. A few minutes pass as Buckethead fights to stay conscious. Pulling himself up he notices the scroll is now soaked with his own blood. Fearing it is destroyed Buckethead picks it up and is surprised. His blood has caused a second set of instructions to show on the page, the ink apparently responding to the blood on the scroll, now Buckethead knows where to find the 2nd master if he can get out alive. His thoughts are cut short as he sees two eyes peering back out at him from the darkness of the cave.

13) Yoshimitzu’s Den - Finding the source of the eyes Buckethead confronts a sword bearing person, who reveals himself to be called Yoshimitzu. Yoshimitzu tells Buckethead he came here to kill the Master, and that it would be best if Buckethead just stayed out of the way. Buckethead tells Yoshimitzu that he has already been defeated, and Yoshimitzu gets enraged at this news, so intent on him being the one to defeat the master. He pulls out his sword and attacks Buckethead.

14) Cobra Cartilige - Buckethead and Yoshimitzu begin to fight, Buckethead using the deadly sonic arts and Yoshimitzu using his blade. The fight keeps going on, neither opponent gaining an advantage over the other. Suddenly a blast of energy slams into Yoshimitzu from behind, throwing him forward into Buckethead.

15) Slap to Branding Nunchuka - Out of the darkness strides the Master riding a giant machine in the semblance of a spider, and smoke coming out of one of the many cannons on the machine’s surface. Clutching his side the Master shouts at Buckethead that he is going to get revenge for Buckethead almost killing him, and begins to advance. Yoshimitzu with a glance at Buckethead and the master removes what Buckethead thought was his face. The grinning horned visage melts away, turning itself into a plain white mask with 2 holes for the eyes and one for the mouth and hands it to buckethead. He tells Buckethead to take it, it is old and very powerful and he will need it to defeat the master once and for all. With a rattle in his chest Yoshimitzu begs for Buckethead’s forgiveness for attacking him, as now he sees the error of his ways. Buckethead thanks Yoshimitzu but is cut short as the Master opens fire.

16) Spider Crawl - Buckethead dives to the side, but the blast slams into Yoshimitzu’s form, the blast shaking the walls of the cave. With a look at Yoshimitzu’s remains Buckethead dons the mask, which seems to become one with him. Buckethead’s eyes seem to light up as new power surges through him and into his Mentor’s guitar. With a yell Buckethead attacks the Master. The battle is of epic proportions, the Master’s weapon of destruction against Buckethead and his deadly sonic arts. Waves of sonic desctruction tear at the spiders frame, and it’s energy bolts slam into barriers of sound. With an echoing cry of rage Buckethead lets loose one final wave of energy. The sound forms a beam of pure energy, slamming into the body of the spider and lifting it up off the ground. With a grinding crash the Master and his machine tear into the stone wall, followed by a fiery explosion as the machine gives in at last to Buckethead’s attacks. With a rumble the cave begins to collapse, and Buckethead gets into his ship and takes off, heading for open skies. Sensing the death of their master, his followers have no desire to fight the one who defeated him, and Buckethead leaves the planet in peace, heading off to the stars and the next Master.


~original artwork and story by Vorago