Hellgate

"Demonic. Twisted. Evil. Sick. Perverted. House."

- Arachnos' iconic description of Hellgate ""All of you are just like me. Anything that we view as an obstructions to our own selfish wants is destroyed. You can try and deny it, but deep down, you know I'm right.""

- Hellgate taunts his opponents "Hm...heheheheheheheheheh.....Hahahahahahahahahaha.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...!"

- Hellgate's infamous evil laugh

"Hellgate" is the name given to the evil, future version of SDM, and is the titular villain of The Hellgate Saga roleplays by SDM.

After being contaminated by a Dark Spore during the Dark Swarm, SDM began a long transformation into one of, if not the, most iconic villains of Shifting Worlds. After killing his family in the event known only as "The Slaughter," Hellgate travelled back in time with the only survivor of the incident with the goal of becoming a god and destroying the world.

Since his debut in Hellgate 1, Hellgate has made numerous other appearances in SDM's works, almost always as the primary antagonist. His popularity has also led SDM to begin writing a prequel that details the mansion's slow corruption into the monster he later became known as.

History
Up to a certain point, Hellgate's origins are identical to that of his "normal" self, SDM. He began as an ordinary mansion that was eventually granted sentience, and constant ill-treatment left him bitter at any "fleshies" that were not his residents. When Kizeki Corp. began to modify the mansion, he rebelled. A deal was struck in which he would keep his mobility and his weaponry, which he intended to use to protect his "family." His closeness to his assembler, Patchouli Knowledge also led to him developing a romantic attachment to her.

Where their histories diverge, however, is several years later.

The Hellgate Gaiden
Hellgate's beginnings are chronicled in the Gaiden that bears his name.

Birth
The first chapter of the story details how SDM came to be infected by a Dark Spore. On a nonparticular evening, SDM and Patchouli noticed a distanty-falling strange object. Patchouli requested that Sakuya Izayoi, the Estate's chief maid, go investigate. The next morning, an injured Sakuya and Jonathan Scarlet returned, carrying an unconscious and injured Reimu Hakurei. In Jonathan's other hand he carried a strange black object, the sight of which caused Patchouli so slap it out of his grasp in fear.

Patchouli acted quickly, grabbing one of her glass coverings and sealing it to the floor. She then revealed what the object was: a messenger of a cosmic entity known as the Black Spawn, and then proceeded to tell the residents of the estate the legend associated with it.

The Black Spawn was a multi-dimensional world devourer, travelling from universe to universe and from planet to planet, draining all life from it. Known as the "Great Destroyer," it was percieved to be a nearly unstoppable being, due to its "method" of consuming a planet. It would first dispatch what is known as a Dark Spore to the targeted world, and infect the strongest being it came across. The Spore would drive its host to kill, feeding off their negative emotions and twisting any desires they had to result in bloodshed. The "Messenger Spore" would then drive the world into chaos and confusion, leaving it vulnerable to the next stage: the Dark Swarm.

The Dark Swarm was the second phase of the Spawn's attack, in which thousands upon thousands of Dark Spores flood the planet, infecting as many inhabitants as possible, forcing them all into a bloody free-for-all that more often than not resulted in at least three-quarters of a planet's life being wiped out. This would ensure no resistance for the third and final phase, when the Black Spawn itself arrived. It would recall its "children," and then finish off what was left of the world, draining its life and leaving it a barren rock in space.

However, the Black Spawn had visited their Earth once before, tens of thousands of years prior. It came down on an ancient youkai kingdom, and instigated a devastating war that spanned the entire globe. The war had done a fair job of exterminating all life on its own, leaving a permanent scar on the world. The Black Spawn itself then arrived, and just as it seemed nothing could stop it, a lone hero sacrificed his life, defeating the Spawn with a powerful light spell.

Though the Spawn had been defeated, it was not killed, and retreated into space. The damage it had already done, meanwhile, could not be reversed. As a result, youkai lost their hold on Earth, and humanity came to be the dominant species.

With the Black Spawn apparently returning to Earth, it was decided that the light spell the ancient hero used would need to be recreated. Patchouli organized a small group, including SDM, to go to Eientei to seek help from Eirin Yagokoro. Though the trip was uneventful, it was successful. They returned later that same day, and Patchouli proceeded to get right to work. When it was complete, Patchouli protected all the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, including herself. SDM, meanwhile, was left unprotected. According to Patchouli, the spell was limited in its use, and as far as they knew a Dark Spore had never been known to infect an inorganic being.

Once they were prepared to face the Dark Swarm, a new threat became suddenly apparent: the imprisoned Messenger Spore had disappeared. No matter where it was sought, it could not be located. It was determined that someone had had to have been infected, but it was no clear who, if any of them. In truth, the Spore had managed to absorb itself into the floor, beginning a very slow corruption of the mansion himself. At that moment, before the residents could investigate the matter further, the invasion began. The Scarlet Estate mobilized to counter the Swarm, trying to destroy as many Spores as they could before they infected anybody. They also dealt with the infected themselves, literally beating the Spores out of their host. SDM had joined as well, utilizing his PWM form.

In a surprising turn, the Black Spawn itself arrived in the latter stages of the battle, far earlier than it was supposed to. It called the Spores back to it, most of them forcibly freeing themselves from their hosts to answer their "mother's" call. SDM himself felt an unexplainable tug by the summoning, but did not know what to make of it.

The Gensokians attempted to battle the Black Spawn, only to be immediately repelled by its nigh-impenetrable barrier. Not even SDM could make a scratch, and was thrown hard into the ground. The impact had flung Patchouli out of the control room, injuring her. Forced to admit to himself his feelings for her, SDM immediately sought out help for his pilot, leaving her in the care of Sakuya. He then turned to face the Spawn, and in his wrath, punched it.

A dark aura formed around his fist as his anger called on the Spore's dark powers, and the impact of the punch was multiplied tenfold. Enough to completely shatter the Spawn's divine shield. At that time, SDM was as unaware of his infection as everyone else, and as such, his recent accomplishment baffled him just as much as the stares from his onlookers would imply. Regardless, the retaliation was quick and swift, with the entire combined might of Gensokyo coming down on the Spawn. During the battle, the Great Destroyer focused on SDM nearly exclusively in an attempt to reclaim its missing Spore (though this fact was currently lost to them), which was ultimately its downfall as SDM was the one to deal the final blow. SDM stomped on the Black Spawn, reducing it to shadowy vapor that left for the sky, never to reform.

Once again, Earth had repelled the Black Spawn. And like before, it was not without consequence. For the next six months, the Scarlet family would lead the reconstruction efforts.

Black Heaven
A year after the Spawn's defeat, a series of "bulges" appeared in the skies above Gensokyo. Both the curious and the cautious went to investigate the site, wary of another monster like the Black Spawn. Patchouli was among this group, making frequent trips back and forth. This had bothered SDM, who wished she wouldn't pus herself do hard. During the past year, he had avoided confessing to her, deciding to try and keep their relationship unchanged, forever acting as their guardian. Patchouli responded by saying that they had to avoid another incident like the Dark Swarm at all costs, and determining what the bulge mean could make the difference between knowing their enemy or being blindsided by an attack.

The bulge suddenly tore open, revealing itself to be a portal. The Gensokians all took up defensive positions and SDM met the rift in his PWM form. While they were expecting another Great Destroyer, they instead found a ship. It appeared in normal space, and announced in no unclear terms that the world was being taken as the newest dominion of The General. Following this announcement, an entire fleet of The General's vessels broke through into Gensokyo's airspace, and commenced a full-scale bombardment of the valley.

The Gensokians were quickly overwhelmed. The General's ships were comparable to Kizeki Corp.'s own, vastly outpowering them all. Even SDM had difficulties. It was not until he tapped into his own anger did he manage to gain the upper hand, getting The General's attention in the process.

The General, realizing where SDM's power came from, became furious that his previous project had been dismantled by a being using, in his own words, "fake power." He ordered that his personal flagship, The General's Head move in to personally confront the war house.

By the time Delta Fleet had parted to allow room for the ship to arrive, SDM had already decimated half of it. The General scolded SDM for his actions and his reliance on power that was not truly his own, while SDM bit back with his own words. The two eventually came to blows, with SDM summoning all his anger to take on the strongest ship in the Multiverse.

For a time, the two forces seemed to be evenly matched. Both were aware of this, and tried to resort to cunning to outdo the other. The General made the first move, driving SDM towards the bow and revealing the dreaded Black Star Cannon. At that point, it became a race between the Cannon's charge rate and SDM's thrusters. The mansion charged the weapon, hoping to make it backfire before it finished preparing itself, causing a chain reaction that would take down the ''Head. ''Unfortunately, he lost, and was blasted to rubble by it.

The General did not let up, and continued to fire on the downed mansion, doing his best to ensure it would never get up again. All the while, he taunted SDM, calling him a failure and a boaster. To make up for losses incurred by the battle and SDM's rampage, The General ordered what was left of Delta Fleet to move beyond Gensokyo, and take over the world.

This event would later prove to have destructive consequences, rippling down through time and becoming instrumental in SDM's fall to Hellgate. His defeat and subsequent humiliation at The General's hands would haunt SDM forever, convincing him of the need to become stronger. This notion was perfect for the Spore to feed off of, always driving the memory to the surface and making sure it would never be forgotten. At first the idea was for a noble cause (the greater protection of his residents), but over time the Spore would corrupt and twist it, turning it into a mockery of what it used to be.

Already the Spore began to have greater influence over its host because of the event. In the aftermath of the invasion, SDM's soul had been rescued by Patchouli and bound to Sakuya's Luna Dial. When Patchouli tried in vain to comfort his extreme bitterness, he retaliated nearly with violence, the only thing stopping him from hurting the woman he supposedly loved being his own intangibility. It was an action that disgusted even himself, and from then on insisted on remaining separated from his closest friend.

Red Earth
In the intervening months after The General's takeover, SDM had become aware of a shift in his personality. Dark thoughts had begun to plague his mind, always encouraging him to follow the most violent path, and making arguments to justify his new anger. SDM wasn't entirely sure, but he had begun to suspect the truth about his new powers. To him, it was the only explanation for what he did to Patchouli.

The survivng youkai of Gensokyo organized themselves into a very loose resistance, setting up two major refugee camps for the residents of Gensokyo to escape from The General's collection crews. Patchouli had gone to Forest Camp, while SDM and the majority of the rest of the Scarlet Estate joined Mountain Camp.

Two months after the initial invasion, SDM found himself brooding from near the summit of Youkai Mountain, staring down at the ashen ruins of Gensokyo far below. He was reminesencing over his defeat by The General, and vowing to make sure that no matter what happened, he would not be defeated again. As far as he was concerned, the catatrophic results of his failure only proved that what others (and even himself) considered arrogance turned out to in fact be true: the fate of the world was bound to SDM's ability to fight.

SDM's brooding was then interrupted by Sakuya, who dragged him back inside the camp, just as a scanner passed by and the camp hid itself wihtin the mountain. The frequency of the scanner raids prompted a discussion between some of the camp residents (including a very angry Arachnos, fresh from an argument with Patchouli over in Forest Camp) over what they should do. Kanako Yasaka, the "leader" of the camp, denied the idea that anything needed to be done at all, confident in her and Suwako's ability to protect the Camp from The General, and dismissed any contingency plans proposed. This did not stop the discussion, however, and the conversation simply moved outside.

SDM, Sakuya, and Arachnos were joined by Aurion, Jonathan, Remilia, and Flandre. The conversation yielded little, but the majority were in agreement that the only solution was to escape Gensokyo. How, exactly, this would be accomplished was a different story entirely. On this, no one could agree. The General's Watchtower had essentially trapped them in Gensokyo, using the Hakurei Border itself as a massive wall to keep the youkai trapped inside and vulnerable to his collection crews. Reimu, the only person who could control it, had been captured and was being held at the Former Village Prison. A rescue was deemed infeasible at the current time, since they were still doing fine (relatively speaking) in Mountain Camp. It was not considered worth the risk to mount the rescue of a person whose current status was unknown for what would only be a backup plan.

During the conversation, SDM noticed a flash down near where his body lay. Arachnos had already informed them of Patchouli and her mission to raid his old body for supplies, and as such the unexpected light disturbed him. He was soon called back into the conversation, but shortly after they and the rest of Mountain Camp were under siege by one of The General's pacification ships, the Brimstone. In a panic, the inhabitants of Mountain Camp tried to flee, but with a Pacifier inbound, there was nowhere they could go where they wouldn't be vulnerable to it. SDM offered up a plan: Suwako would encase the Camp in a "dirt elevator" and safely lower it to the ground while a small group distracted the Brimstone, counting on the possibility that their knowledge of Suwako was limited.

Incidentally, it would be the group that recently tried to come up with a contingency plan that would run the distraction, joined by Kanako and Sanae. After managing to hold their own for a fairly lengthy time and managing to take out two of the Brimstone's assigned X-1 Squadron, Suwako launched a column of dirt into the air, signalling that the elevator had reached the bottom of the mountain. Ultimately, his plan was successful, and the refugees managed to escape with no casualties.

The next day, The General's collection crews were furiously searching the mountain for the escaped refugees. With Mountain Camp gone, they found themselves little choice but to enact the rescue operation against the prison.

They began their raid on the Former Village Prison several nights later. While Kanako directed the majority of the refugees from outside, attacking the outer defenses and generally keeping the prison guards busy, a small group (including SDM and Sakuya) snuck into the prison and descended to the lower levels. After fighitng through waves of The General's guards and soldiers, the group managed to reach the level where Reimu was being held. An ambush awaited them, and the group was divided up.

Sakuya's opponent managed to severely wound her, and as her better moved in for the kill, wrath overtook SDM once again. Using the Luna Dial's power and combinging it with his own Spore, SDM reversed and fast-forwarded the flow of time around their opponent, making him face death exactly 176 times. As he was preparing to do the same to the entire facility, he caught himself, and fought back the urge to do so.

Sakuya had watched, but in her blood loss-induced delirium, didn't seem to make sense of it. Aurion, of whom was also part of the team, finished dealing with his own opponent and rushed over to care for her, leaving SDM to go with the others to find Reimu. When they found her, they freed her and escorted her out of the prison, SDM even noting that he had found what they had done to her to be a bit too much.

During their escape, one of The General's dropships appeared overhead, and unleashed a new set of monsters for the refugees to deal with. Their alterations made them extra formidable, and as such could not be stopped by the wounded and tired team. A mysterious robot then descended down from above, and opened fire on the Experiments, buying time for the Mountain Camp escaspees to flee.

Later, the pilot of the robot would identify himself as Darren Tillens, aka "Archer." Archer said he was part of the Rebellion against The General, dispatched to their Earth to help escort survivors to safety. His squadron was lost in an ambush, leaving him the only survivor. He had been wandering for some time, trying to seek out either a superior officer to direct him to safety or to find some allies that needed help. Archer was then informed of Gensokyo's plight regarding the Border, and Mountain Camp's plan to deal with it. Archer agreed to lend them his assistance, and together they hid out in a distant corner of Gensokyo while their wounded recovered. Reimu was also given special care and treatment to help her recover her strength faster.

Once Reimu was in better condition, the refugees of Mountain Camp and their new friend marched on the Watchtower at the edge of Gensokyo. When they arrived, they witnessed another rebel Mimic squadron inbound, with a newly-repaired PWM in tow. The Mimic Squadron's Commander, Souichirou Kusakabe, and through Archer, informed the youkai of the Rebellion's own plan to overthrow The General. The Rebellion was planning on taking on the Watchtower as well to release the barrier so that the PWM could be used in the next phase of their Operation. In fact, they had arrived at the Former Village Prison that day for the express purpose of rescuing Reimu, but of course she was with the youkai already.

The plan was adjusted to accomodate this change. Instead of heading inside the Watchtower themselves, the youkai would go instead, escorting Reimu safely down to the power core to shut down the Watchtower. Meanwhile, F Squadron, the PWM, and Archer (temporarily assigned to F Squadron) would defend the tower's entrance and prevent any reinforcements from getting in. With their newly combined might, the battle began. The refugees went inside of the tower, to seek out the power generator that forcibly held the Border in place, while F Squadron and Patchouli defended the entrance from reinforcements.

The first push inside the tower was difficult for the youkai. Soldiers had set up a tight defense, and with the youkai coming out of a comparatively narrow corridor, they were relatively easy to pick off. Suwako tried to summon mounds of earth to protect the youkai, but this made the tower unstable. She would not risk setting up the barriers again. Meanwhile, the soldiers had begun lobbing grenades over the walls, in an attempt to flush out the youkai. SDM came up with a counter: with Sakuya's help, he froze time and allowed Sakuya to knock off the soldier's helmets. This left them more vulnerable to Gensokyo's specialty when time resumed. The tide of the battle began to turn, and eventually the soldiers retreated. The way to the core was open, and the team went in.

When they had finally reached the core of the tower, they found that it was protected by a shield. Nothing they threw at it would harm it. Nearby was a control room housing what appeared to be the core's shield generator. Trying to take out the shield generator alerted its guardian, the experiment known as R.E.X., and she attacked. She was fast, resilient, and deadly and the spacial limitations of the room forced them out of it. R.E.X. gave chase, and as she left the room SDM froze time again. He convinced Sakuya to try and sneak in behind R.E.X. and destroy the generator while R.E.X. was busy with the rest of the team. Unfortunately, Sakuya's knives weren't enough to break the generator, and they were forced to regroup. The modifications to her body proved to be nearly too much for the team to handle, and R.E.X. moved to block their escape. She began to consume the youkai team, consuming them one by one into her darkness. Reimu and Sanae stepped forward to hold her back, uniting their divine channeling to force R.E.X. to hold while everyone else destroyed the generator. When that was accomplished, the team turned their attention on the core itself, destroying it and shutting down the Watchtower.

R.E.X. was temporarily stunned as it waited for new orders. In the meantime, SDM was urging Reimu to leave an injured Sanae behind so that they could flee before R.E.X. came after them. Reimu adamently refused to leave her friend behind, and she was thrown on Arachnos' back just as R.E.X. came back online. She began to pursue them out of the tower, trying to destroy them before Reimu could shut down the Border.

While the youkai team was underground, Patchouli and the PWM had suffered heavy damage from The General's forces, particularly a group of five Pacifiers that had arrived to put a stop to F Squadron's choke on the entrance. Despite its upgrades, the PWM was no match for a fleet of Pacifiers, and was reduced to a barely-functional state as a result. Even with additional backup from the Rebellion, it was looking like The General would be victorious. Kusakabe was just about ready to issue the order to retreat when the youkai team emerged from underground, flying right at the Border. What was left of the Watchtower exploded as R.E.X. detonated its shadow energy, wrapping it around herself. The team tried to hold her off while Reimu worked on closing down the barrier.

Once the Border was down, Kusakabe gave the order, and the PWM made a quick stop to pick up the refugees before quickly flying off into the Outside World. Over the next several days, the PWM had hidden itself in a small valley far away from Gensokyo, where it remained so that is could be repaired for the damage it suffered during the Watchtower fight. With their victory at the Border, the other youkai of Gensokyo, including Forest Camp, were free to escape into the Outside World where it would be much more difficult for The General to find and capture them. SDM and Patchouli remained mostly separated during this time, until Patchouli ordered Sakuya to let her speak to him in private on their last day in the valley.

Their reunion was troubled, with SDM's bitterness coming to a boil yet again. Old wounds were reopened and regretted words were repeated. Patchouli was willing to forgive SDM on the condition that he never do it again. SDM could not find it within himself to even remain in her presence, let alone accept her forgiveness. He didn't feel ready to face her, not until he felt he could protect her. That, and though he kept it hidden, he also wished to get a grasp of his dark powers before they could be used against her.

Patchouli called him out, and it enraged him. He almost tried to strangle her, and that proved to be the final straw. He broke down before her, and told her about everything. What he really believed about their last encounter and his new powers. He told her how he was afraid that he could very well have been infected by a Dark Spore. Patchouli inwardly scolded herself for her own words, remembering what she said about inorganic beings. However, she found herself in a difficult position. If what SDM was telling her was true, then that would mean that the Spore within him was the only thing that allowed him to stand a chance against The General. Their options were to either let him keep it and risk him becoming more corrupted, or purge it and sacrifice its added power and SDM's memory. In the end, she decided to go with the former, promising to SDM that they would purge it after The General was defeated.

Because of his misgivings, SDM vowed to himself to control his anger in an attempt to keep himself from falling to the Spore's influence. This became a key point in the following attack on the Warp Net Generator. As the next phase of Payload, the Second Wing under Kusakabe was sent to Point Triple Zero in the Atlantic Ocean. Their mission was the subaquatic Warp Net Generator, one of six structures that projected an anti-warping barrier around the planet. Its destruction would allow for the main Rebel attack fleet to enter Earth's orbit and engage The General's forces, and give them the opprotunity to bring The General to justice, freeing the Earth in the process.

In fact, the previous battle was done to prepare for the Net Generator assault. The Rebellion had upgraded SDM's body to be at the mark III, giving it the power of a Rebel battle cruiser in a highly mobile body. With the Border down, the Rebellion was able to move it to Point Triple Zero, where the presumed weakest Generator was located. The youkai from Mountain Camp volunteered for one last mission, and they were going to lend support to the pilots of the Second Wing who were going to go inside the Generator itself and destroy the shield's core. SDM's soul was also transferred to be back into the mansion, allowing Patchouli to join that group since she wouldn't be necessary to control his body.

SDM's job was to firstly escort and protect the youkai that he would release into the Generator, participating in the whole Second Wing's assault on the outer defenses. Once his passengers were released into the Generator, SDM and the units of the Second Wing that didn't go in were to help weaken the shield from the outside. And once the infiltrating team had destroyed the core, SDM would use his enhanced weaponry to obliterate the Generator completely and thus allow the Rebel fleet to move in.

SDM was, at first, nervous to participating in the battle. His discussions with Patchouli had done little to ease his fears regarding the Spore, which had him sit out of the opening volleys. However, at the prompting of Kusakabe, SDM entered the fray, and helped the Second Wing with the Generator's defenses. During this phase of the battle, Patchouli was also assisting from the control room. Together, they used the PWM to focus on the heavy-hitting torpedo launchers, leaving the Second Wing to deal with the "smaller" stuff.

There were four of the launchers in total, and were apparently connected to a sensitive part of the Generator's defense system. SDM and Patchouli took advantage of this, firing Hadron Cannons down the barrels which often had adverse effects on the Generator. After the first was taken down, the Generator's defenses began to more heavily target SDM, evne going so far as to bring out a special ice cannon. Its freezing beam was fast enough to catch up with SDM numerous times, more than once freezing him completely to leave him at the mercy of the torpedos. Fortunately, the ice only affected the mansion himself, which allowed Patchouli to use quick-thinking to save both themselves and their passengers.

After a lucky shot by Patchouli, the final launcher was destroyed, and with it an explosion that took down the rest of the defenses. SDM prepared to dock with the Generator just as an X-2 Squadron dropped into the water, being led by a brand-new robot not seen before. SDM barely managed to unload his crew in time to fight them off. The X-2s fell quickly, but the new machine proved to be a much more dangerous enemy. Though he was quite tempted to call upon the Spore's power, SDM resisted, managing to finally destroy it with a well-aimed torpedo of his own after suffering some moderate damage himself.

His problems were far from over, however, for soon after an entire squadron of the black robots dropped into the water. Kusakabe told him that they were the new X-3s, and dispatched G Squadron to assist. Though, he noted that the power difference was fairly great, and that essentially SDM would be on his own. Kusakabe also reported that the X-3s were likely being coordinated from above the water's surface, via a Pacifier.

SDM, who had difficulties with only one of them, could hardly hold his own. Any bit of damage he did to them was instantly met with five times that against him. The temptation to give in the Spore became ever stronger, especially once his "spine" was exposed. A particular incident in which SDM was thrown against the sea floor front-first resulted in the squadron preparing to execute a finishing move. However, in a strange event, one of his weapons managed to turn 180 degrees, and bought him enoough time to stand upright. He did not quite understand how he accomplished such a thing, but it did spare him so he didn't complain.

As the fight battle continued, SDM found himself having only damaged three of them. Getting desperate and looking for a way to put himself on the offensive, he turned his attention to the Pacifier above. He shot out of the water, intending to destroy the Pacifier before the X-3s caught up. Unfortunately, he failed to anticipate the Pacifier's own scanners, and as such was struck by one of their cannons as he shot out of the water. Using the distance he gained from the blast, SDM dumped out the water that had flooded his halls in order to grant him more speed. He then attempted to fire at the Pacifier with full-powered Hadrons, only to realize that they already were at full power. Regardless, his innate stubborness would not let him give up, and he successfully managed to overclock his Hadron Cannons. Yet again, he was not sure how he accomplished this.

An asset was an asset, though, and he managed to temporarily disable the Pacifier's shields. Relying on the same bizarre power that had been changing his form through unknown means, he increased the power of his thruster and arms, and tossed the ship several miles away. His reward was the return of the X-3 Squadron.

It did not take long for the Pacifier to rejoin the battle. Beseiged on all sides, SDM only managed to destroy two X-3s in all before a direct blast to his spine shut his body down, and he crashed into the ocean. His strange "willing" move would not heal him, and likewise nothing he did would restart his systems. He began to rationalize using the Spore, telling himself that there was no proof that it even was a Spore, and that regardless of if he fell to the darkness, a monster already ruled the world. That finally convinced him, and SDM began to think of things that would anger him. He thought of his past and his mistreatment, he thought of the many incidents that harrassed his residents, and he thought of Patchouli. However, thinking of her lying bloodied like she was at the Spawn battle, except by his hands, was enough to reign him back under control. In his own words, "I will not take down one monster only to replace him with another. Not knowingly." He proceeded to keep trying to restart his systems, only planning on using the Spore once he was absolutely certain that there was nothing more he could do. Eventually, he got a response. His body began to respond, albeit erratically. He tried to operate one of his armor's shutters (designed with the intent of sealing in oxygen should his armor be breached in space), and only by "willing" it to was he able to close up one of his larger breaches. He noted that he felt "lighter" afterwards, but would examine it later. He rushed for the surface once again, and once he broke through he instantly fired his last two missiles, destroying one more X-3 and crippling another. Eight remained plus the Pacifier.

Despite his best efforts, he still couldn't challenge the Pacifier and the X-3 Squadron on equal terms. His spine would only need to be hit one more time for it to shatter, and had only managed ot survive by concentrating on defending it. Several times he had come very close to tapping into the Spore's strength through his anger alone, one instance in particular where the aura had actually revealed itself. He eventually realized that he truly had no choice but to call on the Spore. But, he would still do as much damage as he could manage with his broken body first. He gave into complete madness, both in an attempt to stall his anger and out of the knowledge that the Spore will move his body for him, even if he couldn't himself. He pushed his body beyond its designed limits, severly damaging it the more he used it. He focused his efforts on the Pacifier specifcally, only fighitng the X-3s when they came too close. One noteworthy incident occurred when he overloaded his own weapons to make them self-destruct, completely demolishing his own roof but damaging two X-3s in the process.

Eventually, at the cost of sacrificing his ability to even fly, SDM managed to destroy the Pacifier. His body slowly began to sink into the ocean as another X-3 Squadron began to move in to provide back-up for the first as large ship silhouettes appeared in the distant sky. Though he dreaded it, not even his stubborness could prevent him from seeing the Spore's necessity now. That was when Patchouli revealed herself to be sitting in the control room. While SDM had been battling the X-3s and the Pacifier above the surface, the Second Wing and the Gensokians had managed to successfully destroy the Warp Net Generator. Patchouli had personally requested that Sakuya place her back in his control room in order to assist him. This had the exact opposite result, though, as SDM could not bring himself to summon the Spore's power with the one he most feared to use it on at the wheel. Despite her protests, SDM had completely given up, and resigned himself to a lengthy stay at the bottom of the ocean.

The distant, oncoming vessels were then revealed to be of the Rebellion, and they destroyed the X-3s. According to the Admiral, this small fleet was sent down to Point Triple Zero to lend assistance if necessary. Far above, the rest of the Rebel Fleet had engaged The General's own, and Operation Payload moved into its final phase. The PWM was airlifted onto the lead vessel, the Great Wing, and the fleet began to move towards Washington D.C. for the final showdown.

As his body underwent yet another set of repairs, Patchouli confronted him over what he did. He defended his actions, forcing her to admit out loud to him that she did not believe they could win without the Spore, and pleaded with him to bear his cross for another few hours. SDM finally agreed, resolving to "simplify his objectives in life," and only focus on making his creator smile. Whatever would make her smile, whether it be the protection or destruction of others, he would do it.

Enroute to the city, the fleet came under attack. Patchouli and SDM stood by to assist, but their assistance proved needless. This worked to their benefit, as SDM's body would be able to see its repairs finished. They were then summoned to the Great Wing's briefing room, for a final overview of the battle.

Two teams were being sent up into space. One composed of a small handful of youkai (including Patchouli) and F Squadron, and then a platoon of soldiers. Both had the same destination but two different missions: to either commandeer or to disable ''The General's Head. ''F Squadron would protect both during their flight, and ideally The General's forces would only gun for one of the two teams, thus increasing their chances of removing The General's strongest piece from the board. SDM, however, was to remain on Earth, and ideally not fight the enemy himself. On the off-chance that The General had not caught wind of SDM's return, they wished to use him as a trump card against whatever "surprise" The General had in store for the Rebellion.

This troubled him, but he didn't say anything until Patchouli went up to the repair bay, alone, to transfer his soul back into his proper body. SDM made Patchouli promise that she would return safe and sound. Patchouli at first wanted to deny such an unreasonable promise, but eventually decided that false reassurance was the least she owed him for forcing the fate of the whole world on his shoulders. His feelings were hinted to be reciprocated when she forgot to speak for anyone but herself.

Patchouli and the youkai soon departed the Great Wing while SDM remained behind. He watched over the battle down below from a safe distance, piecing together information from what he could see and what he heard over the radio. So far, the battle had been going well. The soldiers had encircled the city and were slowly moving towards the White House, where The General was supposed to be living. With the majority of The General's defense fleet in orbit fighting the Rebels, things seemed to be looking up for once. It made SDM nervous.

The battle went on for several hours. As SDM watched in silence, Flandre approached him from below deck. She tried to find solace in him, as both her sister and her very close friend were two of the team who ventured up to the ''Head. ''SDM, unwilling to be optimistic when facing The General, promised Flandre that if anything were to happen to any of his residents or the friends of those residents, he would always be there for her. Not entirely satisfied but taking what she could get, she returned to the lower decks of the Wing.

Not long after, a large shadow dropped over the battlefield: The General's Head. At first the Rebellion was confused, if their own had taken they believed they would have heard something. SDM instantly took this as a sign that something was wrong. This was proven only moments later when The General himself broadcasted a message from the Head, telling the Rebellion to "get off [his] world." He punctuated his demands with a golden laser that shot straight through a Rebel cruiser, obliterating it.

SDM took flight against the Rebellion's wishes, and went to meet the ''Head. Upon arriving over the top of the main deck, SDM bore witness to complete carnage; he was looking at the results of F Squadron's battle against the Head. ''After some banter was exchanged between the two, with The General announcing his "disappointment" towards SDM for not seeming to learn anything from their previous encounter.

Their verbal standoff was ended when The General fired the golden laser at SDM, knocking him away. The Head continued to rain down the golden beams, decimating the Rebel Fleet. Commander Amadeus ordered all of the Rebel forces within the city to retreat, something the Rebel ships found difficult to do under the barrage. When the Great Wing came under fire, SDM immediately went to the rescue of his residents taking shelter within the hold. He placed his body between the two falling halves, loading as many residents as possible. While he saved a great many, several dozen of the fairy maids were unable to be saved, and he felt a twinge of regret for it.

Shortly thereafter, F Squadron arrived on the scene. SDM instantly started firing questions at them, demanding to know what happened to his residents and the other members of Youkai Team. F Squadron revealed that during their infiltration of the Head, the two groups were separated by an impenetrable wall, forcing F Squadron to abandon them. For this, SDM took note of each of their apperances, in case he would ever have the chance to enact revenge for their abandonment.

Meanwhile, the heat from the Head became too dense, and SDM was forced to join the Rebel forces as they fled the city. He stood with the residents he was able to rescue, and they all watched the burning city. SDM pieced together that all along, The General had been playing them. All along The General knew what the Rebellion was doing, and while they thought they were playing him into their hands, in reality he had been playing them into his. To SDM, it proved that a solid plan, and remaining two steps ahead of one's enemies at all times was another key to victory, alongside sheer power. Just as SDM and company were preparing themselve sot face an even darker future, a tear in the fabric of spacetime caught their attention.

The rest of the Youkai Team, sans Patchouli, had dropped in from space. They recounted the missing half of F Squadron's story, and told SDM that after the walls enclosed them, they were teleported out into space, where they only just barely managed to surive and return to Earth. As for Patchouli, she was cut off from them, and her current wherabouts were unknown, save that she was still onboard The General's Head.

SDM ordered his residents to vacate his body, and they complied. Knowing what he was planning, Amadeus tried to convince SDM not to go, but SDM wouldn't heed him. He flew towards the burning ruins of Washington D.C., aiming for the Head once again. The battle between the two machines was a quick one, ending with SDM crashing into the ruins of a "fellow building." With Patchouli's life on the line, SDM didn't hesitate over trying to call forth the Spore's power.

At that moment, The General bade SDM to stop, and struck a deal. A test of strength with the fate of the world as the prize. The General would use his newest machine (and the source of the golden laser), The General's Soul, and if he won, he would get to keep and modify SDM, making an entire army of of his Kizeki Corp. design. If SDM won, The General would command all of his forces to leave the planet. Though hesitant at first, SDM eventually agreed.

SDM flew towards the Soul, and was instantly knocked into the earth far below. This prompted SDM to try to call forth the Spore yet again, to which The General said wasn't allowed. He planned on enforcing this by using a device called the Cleanser, fueled by none other than Patchouli herself. Using the light spell embedded within her from the Black Spawn crisis, he turned her power against the mansion and attempted to forcefully remove the Spore.

The General was unaware of Patchouli's and SDM's connection to each other, and so was at first confused as to why the Cleanser was taking such a long time to do its job. Then he pieced together the truth, and realized that the librarian was somehow slowing the Cleanser down. This prompted him to increase the power, both to overcome her resistance and to punish her for defying his will. She screamed in pain and then fell unconscious, shutting off the Cleanser for a half second. SDM used this half-second to free Patchouli and destroy the Cleanser, putting the two foes on more equal footing.

After SDM handed Patchouli to F Squadron (making it clear that he would come after them if they endangered her again), The General ordered Delta Fleet to engage the Rebellion and keep them busy. Realizing that their wager was still on, SDM prepared for battle against the Soul. Bitter words were exchanged between the two, and then the final fight began.

The Soul had SDM on the defensive for the first half of the match. Its sheer size and power were more than enough to overwhelm the manor, though SDM did manage to score a few hits of his own, piercing the armor in a couple of places. However, it was not enough to bring the Soul down, and SDM's humilation at being at the receiving end of another beatdown by The General fueled his anger. Finally, SDM gave in, and summoned the Spore's power. The darkness coated his form, and gave it new life. Joints forcefully severed moved through a phantom force that connected them, and SDM gained much increased speed and offensive capabilities. This was only enhanced through his own conscious knowledge of his corruption, allowing him to exert far better control over it. The tables were instantly turned against The General and his mech as SDM viciously tore into it.

During a lull in the fight, SDM experimented with his "willing" ability once again. Drawing on his previous experiences, he tried to repair himself using the material within his body. It actually worked, albeit slowly. Similarly, he also experimented with his shadow powers, testing out using the shadow powers by themselves without using his weapons.

Eventually, SDM was victorious, and The General's Soul went down in a shower of flames and sparks. A smaller robot crawled out of the wreck, revealing that The General was still alive. He upheld his end of the deal as promised, but didn't leave himself before giving SDM an ominous message: "If you continue to use your fake power....I will be far from your world's deadliest threat."

At first there was confusion that The General was actually leaving. SDM suspected that it wasn't done out of honor, but because he believed The General was actually afraid of the Dark Spore. Any time SDM was about to use it, The General intervened, trying to delay him from using it. However, aside from circumstantial evidence, SDM had no proof of this.

As the crowd of onlookers began to surround SDM and praise him as a hero, SDM commented that he was sure they had not seen the last of The General.

The Slaughter
At some point later in his life, SDM, now fully corrupted by the Dark Spore, initiated a large-scale murder of all his residents, save one: Flandre Scarlet. Taking advantage of Flandre's unstable nature, he lured her into accidentally murdering her sister. Under the guise of helping her while instead fueling her innate vampiric bloodlust, SDM convinced her that she would never be able to defend her actions; that the only way to save herself was to exterminate anyone who might oppose her. This meant everyone who lived in the mansion.

SDM himself also actively participated in the extermination of his residents, including Patchouli, now his wife. Later, as Hellgate, it would be revealed that he married Patchouli as a way to manipulate her into making him stronger, and once she either could not or would not (it has not been made explicitly clear which yet) do so anymore, he decided to kill her and everyone else. He believed they were no longer of any use to him.

He decided to let Flandre live because of her raw power, however he needed to first gain control of her. He took advantage of their friendship, and used the Slaughter itself as a means to break her mind, reducing her to little more than a puppet for him to use. Whilist pretending to be her "friend," SDM convinced Flandre to assist him with his scheme to gain ultimate power (though he told Flandre it was to undo the horrible "mistake" she made).

As the decades wore on, SDM had managed to learn how to control the matter within his body so well that he could even send his particles through time. This fit right in with his master plan: to travel into the past and obtain a God Aura, thereby granting him ultimate power. With the Aura in his grasp, he would then set about killing his past self and ruining the world, causing a major time paradox that would force the entire universe to collapse. And he, as a god, would survive the paradox and be able to recreate the universe as he so chose. During this time it is hinted that SDM drove Flandre to commit more atrocities, in order to corrupt her mind with further guilt and make her an even easier puppet to control.

When at long last the two were ready to initiate the plan, SDM began the time travelling process, sending them both back several hundred years.

Hellgate 1

 * "Demonic. Twisted. Evil. Sick. Perverted. House."  -Arachnos

In his debut role, SDM arrived in the past and introduced himself as the SDM of the future. He explained that he had returned to the current timeframe to recover Patchouli, who had died in the far future. He put on a show at this time of acting incredibly civil and decent, but would ruthlessly insult his past self in that same tone. This was done in order to enrage the former mansion, in an attempt to agitate him into battle.

This had sufficiently angered the mansion, who bit back with less-than-kind words. SDM only used this taunt his past self further, pointing out how weak and "foolish" he was. He also pointed out the sheer power his body now carried, claiming that Past-SDM stood no chance. Regardless, his old stubborness was fully present, and the younger manor prepared to fight. It was when Future-SDM called Past-SDM a fleshy for trying to defend the librarian that the more brash of the two charged in.

A large hole was blown striaght through the younger manor's body as the future SDM unleashed his Shawq Cannon. Past-SDM sunk to the ground, and found himself unable to get back up. All he could do was stubbornly argue with his stronger future self. By this point, Kizeki had arrived to see what was happening to her "creation," and SDM's claims fell under scrutiny. Someone pointed out that Patchouli was supposed to be ageless, yet somehow her "time had passed." This same person asked about Remilia, to which SDM responded that Flandre had taken over as mistress.

When SDM was accussed of murdering Remilia, his charade fell apart. He could not hide his true self anymore, and proudly boasted about his accomplishments, fully admitting that he had indeed killed the elder Scarlet. Kizeki tried to point out that killing his past self would cause a time paradox, to which SDM admitted that it would, indeed, result in a paradox and that that was precisely what he was aiming for.

SDM's words caught the attention of several other residents who were living in Gensokyo at the time, namely Arachnos, Aurion, and Kanako, all three of whom arrived after SDM continued to boast about killing Remilia. Arachnos proceeded to describe SDM as a "Demonic. Twisted. Evil. Sick. Perverted. House," and refused to associate him with the name "SDM" any longer. From that moment on, he was known only as "Hellgate" to him, and the name spread. Even SDM himself seemed to enjoy the name.

Kizeki summoned much of Kizeki Corp's personal army, and got ready to attack Hellgate. Hellgate, having technology from the far future, was able to resist her attacks quite well, even surviving an EMP blast. Adding to this was Hellgate's magical barrier, powered by Flandre's own life force. Seeming to grow bored of the engagement, Hellgate dispatched Flandre while he himself dispersed into a red cloud that left the battlefield.

Those who came to oppose Hellgate tried to reason with Flandre, but learned the awful truth only after a few minutes: Hellgate had broken her so completely that there was no hope of convincing her to leave his side. He had even anticipated telling them about Remilia's death, telling Flandre it was for the sake of their plan. She then engaged the group in battle, her years under Hellgate's training having pushed her power beyond what her past self was capable of at the time.

However, emotional fatigue and age had dwindled her power almost as much as Hellgate increased it, and her own hesitation at killing those she once called friends again eventually led to her collapse. She fell unconcious to one of Arachnos' poisons, leaving her ripe for Hellgate to posess. The red cloud descended upon her frail form, and Hellgate's consciousness overwrote her own. The body of the girl went into battle a second time, now spearheaded by a demon who had none of the qualms that held it back before. For the entire fight, Hellgate toyed with his enemies, playing with their emotions by constantly shoving the fact that the only way they could win was to kill their friend into their faces.

Eventually, they managed to deal that fatal blow, and the body collapsed. Around the same time, questions about Hellgate's motives came to light. In response, a god named Cichol arrived, and explained that it probably had something to do with a God Aura. This turned out to be what Hellgate was waiting for, and he fled Flandre's body. The red cloud passed through Cichol, stealing his own god aura and then fleeing the scene entirely.

Flandre came to just in time for death to come on her, and in her final moments she admitted that she had her suspicions about Hellgate the entire time. She also said that she had seen and heard everything while Hellgate was posessing her, which erased any doubt in her mind about her "friend." Before she passed on, she gave a warning to those who were observing her. Hellgate had a backup plan. Failing to kill his past self, Hellgate had obtained a weapon called the Atomic Core and was planning on nuking the planet with it. When his shadow fell over the world, they would know that it was time.

It took only a day for Hellgate to prepare. Likewise, the Patchouli and SDM of this era, uniting with those who fought against him already, also prepared to meet him in space. Having been repaired and upgraded by Kizeki Corp., SDM launched into orbit in order to confront his future self. SDM and Hellgate battled house-to-house in the nonexistant atmosphere, which turned out to be a distraction. Patchouli, Aurion, Arachnos, Kanako, and Kizeki entered Hellgate himself, with the goal of destroying his control console before he managed to finish charging the Atomic Core. With SDM fighitng him from outside, Hellgate couldn't deal with the invaders as effectively, and they managed to breeze past his constructs. Hellgate also attempted to scare them away, but the tradegy they had already witnessed had dulled them to it. Aurion also attempted to seek out and take back the god aura, but only succeeding in removing 5% of it before it was fully consumed by Hellgate's body.

When they reached the control room and destroyed the console, Hellgate used his matter manipulation on their heads, forcing them into a deep sleep. He did it without alerting them, and united them in the same dream, making them believe it was all real. The dream featured himself, as a god, fighting against them in a dead universe. Other gods arrived, but could not harm him. In trurth, this was all a distraction to keep them busy while the Atomic Core neared completion. Patchouli managed to wake them up, and told them that tiem was nearly running out. They returned to the SDM, unsure of what to do.

Patchouli and SDM told them that if the console wouldn't take him out, then that only left his command junction. However, there was no way to get to Hellgate's in time before the Core finished charging. With no other choice, SDM told Patchouli to transfer his soul into one of his own cannons. Patchouli, initially distraught at the idea, eventually agreed that it was the only thing they could do. SDM's soul was transferred, and then fired directly at Hellgate.

The "soul cannon" managed to blast SDM's soul into Hellgate's body, leading to a power struggle between the two souls. SDM managed to make Hellgate's body move further from the Earth, to a distance where the Atomic Core could safely be detonated without harming the planet with fallout. Patchouli was the one who had to pull the trigger, and with tear-stricken eyes she fired. The blast triggered the Core, and it vaporized Hellgate's body so fast that even his rapid-healing matter manipulation didn't stand a chance. And since both Hellgate's and SDM's souls were part of that body, they were eliminated at the same time, thus averting the paradox.

Because their very souls had been destroyed, they became/went to Nihility. As SDM merged with the nothing, Hellgate's 95% complete god aura managed to spare him that same fate. He retained his consciousness while within Nihility, even if not his form, and began to calulcate his revenge.

DEPTHS
In DEPTHS, an in-progress remake of Hellgate 1, Hellgate himself has not held a strong presence, with the main antagonist appearing to Cichol. However, that is not to say that Hellgate hasn't made any appearances. His soul appeared on the shores of the Scarlet Isle, and warned the main characters of the Vessel, and Akuko's relation to it. He told them that she intended to deliver the Vessel to Gensokyo, where it will then proceed to destroy it. He urged them to capture her in order for her to stop it and prevent it from happening. Hellgate did not reveal who he was, only identifiying himself as a "friend."

Later, when they did find her, a mysterious cloaked figure captured the rogue mage, and took her to the Outside World. She lured them to Hellgate's apparently dormant body, and forced them to enter in after her. Hellgate, while they were inside him, granted the intruders various disturbing hallucinations until they left. When they left, he did as well, and Cichol filled the missing "slot" with his own dark magic, bringing the mansion to life.

Additionally, Hellgate and Cichol do appear to be working together based on various shadowy dialogues, but the full extent (and purpose) of their alliance has yet to be explained.

Part I
Through as-of-yet unknown means, Hellgate put into motion his revenge plan only a few months later. Somehow reaching across the void between dimensions, Hellgate manipulated Patchouli through her grief over losing her own SDM, and managed to plant the idea in her head to try and summon him back. Overwhelmed with despair, she followed through with his plan. However, SDM, being permanently part of Nihility and no longer even a consciousness, could not be called back. Hellgate, on the other hand, was the perfect candidate.

Hellgate returned to the world, and the instant his soul bonded with the mansion he cursed the entire residence, foricng everyone within into a deep slumber, just as he did previously in his own body. With his residents asleep, Hellgate then tried to make it appear as if he was this era's SDM by making a "fake" Hellgate to take all the blame. Using his god aura and his Dark Spore, he combined the two powers together and created his own Shade. Using the Shade, he visited the Youkai Mountain and proceeded to slaughter everyone on it. According to him, this was done as "practice" so that he would learn the ins and outs of this new form.

When everything was all set, Hellgate announced his return, pretending to be SDM. The "Hellgate Crew" answered his call, and saw the state of the mansion's residents. Hellgate told them that, in her grief, Patchouli summoned SDM back, but because Hellgate and SDM were technically the same being, she accidentally summoned both. "SDM" was put back in his body, but "Hellgate" roamed Gensokyo as a Shade, and was the one responsible for putting the residents into a deep sleep.

He implored them to help awaken his residents, and told them that "Hellgate" had thrown them all into a dream world. In order to be awakened from the dream world, they would have to realize that it was a dream. And to accomplish that, they would need to enter the dream world and inform the occupants of that fact.

To this end, "SDM" informed the group of a sleeping potion that could do just that, and a waking potion to administer to them once they had learned about the dream world. They were sent all across Gensokyo to gather the ingredients to make the potion, including Youkai Mountain, where they learned of the slaughter there.

For the waking potion, the main cast were sent to Eientei to retrieve it from Lady Eirin. When they arrived, they became aware that Hellgate had been harassing Eientei. His dream world was causing problems for the rabbits, their sensitive ears somehow able to detect it and causing severe adverse effects. They managed to retrieve the waking elixir from Eirin just as Hellgate's Shade arrived. Eirin bade them to flee and take the potion, along with a rabbit who would mix it, in the hope that it would lead to Hellgate's defeat. They fled the bamboo forest, just in time to see Eientei go up in flames as the Shade executed Hellgate's third mass-slaughter.

As the potion was concoted, Hellgate continued to hasrass the Crew from time to time, using his Shade to stalk and taunt them. The Shade could not speak in this world, only make a static-like noise. When the sleeping potion was finished, it was administered and the group entered the dream world. Upon arrival, they had learned that, for the most part, everyone had already gathered that they were in a dream. Only one Gensokian had not come to terms with this fact: Patchouli.

The Crew entered the dream world's Scarlet Devil Mansion, and found Patchouli living in ignorant bliss with a false SDM. As they tried to approach her, Hellgate's Shade appeared yet again. In the dream, the Shade was fully capable of speech, and he greeted them properly for the first time. He asked them if they really wanted to take Patchouli away from the only happiness she'd felt in months: her happy little dream. Despite his words, they tried to press on, only for Hellgate to demonstrate that in the dream, he held total power. He demonstrated this by having the floor and ceiling of the mansion reach out for and take hold of the rabbit girl, and then her head was torn off.

Evnetually Patchouli was awoken to the truth, (much to her displeasure), and the Crew returned to the real world. They awoke the rest of the Scarlet residents, while Patchouli remained quiet and reserved. "SDM" then announced that "Hellgate" had been spotted breaching the mansion, and hurried the Crew into the library. This suddenly made the group suspicious, but they followed "SDM's" warnings anyway. Once they arrived, the doors closed shut behind them, and their fears were proven true.

"SDM" revealed himself to be Hellgate, and, using the sleeping potion combined with his own matter manipulation, he put everyone back to sleep. He then cotninued to spread the potion, in gas form, all across Gensokyo. Eventually, he planned to move beyond the Border and force the entire world into his dream.

The number of people in the dream continued to increase at a steady rate, and the Crew tried to find Hellgate's own form in the world itself, in other words the Shade. They found it within the tallest tower of a castle over a lake of fire that had replaced the Scarlet Isle. They engaged the Shade to a battle, but Hellgate's control over the dream almost appeared to be too much until Aurion managed to pull them back into the real world. Arachnos was lost, however.

As it turned out, them returning to the real world was part of Hellgate's plan all along. He wanted to meet them face to face, so he could prove a point to them. He revealed Patchouli to them, under partial posession by Hellgate. Like with his Flandre, her life force was being used to power a shield. He tried to prove that, no matter which side of "justice" they think they fight for, in the end, they're all the same. They're willing to crush innocents to accomplish their goal just as Hellgate was. Arachna had arrived, and tried to deny Hellgate's words, while ironically only proving them.

Any motion to attack Hellgate was met by Patchouli moving in to take the shot, and ideally die for it. This resulted in a standstill between the two sides. Eventually, a mysterious voice told them to "Sever the tail," the "tail" in this case being the nearly invisible connection Hellgate had to Patchouli that confined her to his will. With the tail severed, Patchouli was released from his control and Hellgate was left without his shield.

Arachna rebirthed Arachnos, and the Hellgate Crew stood against Hellgate for the final showdown. His revenge scheme foiled, there was nothing left for him to achieve but the blood of his enemies. After a long and gruelling fight, Hellgate was finally brought down as a mysterious dark object fled his body. The world's surviving inhabitants were returned to the waking world and the dream world vanished into the ether. Patchouli admitted that she knew SDM had been Hellgate the entire time, but her own feelings of self-loathing had prevented her from speaking up. However, after everything that had happened, Patchouli decided to put her grief behind her and move on, accepting that SDM was never coming back and that walloiwing in self-pity only did more harm than good.

At that moment, the mansion began to stir as the consciousness within reawakened. It was not malevolent, though it had his voice. It was in fact SDM, now free of his dark influence. But all was not quite well, as SDM appeared to have no idea of who Hellgate was.

Part II
Six weeks later, Patchouli summoned the Hellgate Crew to the library. There she revealed SDM's soul, still as red as Hellgate's. After being deceived by him once, the group was not ready to be duped again and prepared to strike him down. Patchouli stopped them, saying that this time it appeared to be genuine. Somehow, he had lost all his memories pertaining to and actually being Hellgate. Moreover, a much more pressing issue had presented itself. A strange black object had fallen onto the Hakurei Shrine, and she wanted them to go investigate.

They did, and in a literal repeat of history, they returned with a bloodied Reimu and her expunged Dark Spore. After recalling seeing a similar object fly out of SDM after Hellgate's last defeat, the truth about Hellgate was pieced together at last. They understood that all along, Hellgate was the result of SDM becoming Spored during the upcoming Dark Swarm invasion. Patchouli told them of the legend of the Black Spawn, and of the light spell needed to combat it. And this time, fully aware of what would happen if she failed to, Patchouli made sure that SDM would be protected. Perhaps even more importantly, since this SDM was technically the same Hellgate who had come from the future to torment them, being infected would mean SDM regaining all his lost memories and Hellgate continuing is reign of terror from where he left off.

The Crew was once again set on a quest across Gensokyo to gather the ingredients. One instance took them to the foothills of Youkai Mountain, where they encountered an individual that had actually been Spored by the very same one that Hellgate carried back with him from the future. They managed to beat the Spore out of the youkai, and the Spore fled.

When they returned with the ingredients, Patchouli immediately went to work on making the spell. The Hellgate Crew then mysteriously vanished into the past, and didn't return until two weeks later. During that time Patchouli managed to cover most of the SDM crew, and partially covered SDM himself. When the main characters returned from Coronai, she placed the spell on them as well, and warned them that SDM was still at least partially vulnerable. The sky tore open then, and the Dark Swarm began. In order to lessen the chance of him being infected, Patchouli absolutely forbid SDM from joining the fight.

When the Black Spawn itself arrived, Patchouli tried to find the others so that they could regroup and figure out how to combat it. The light spell wasn't enough to get past the Spawn's barrier, and it would take a divine power to break it. Hearing this, Aurion had an idea. He knew that SDM still had the god aura, and that, even if he didn't know he had it, it could still be unconsciously triggered in an instance of great emotional stress. Patchouli, saddened by thj fact that she had to use SDM in this way, nevertheless went up against the Spawn. She summoned forth her most power spell and threw it against the Spawn to get its attention. It retaliated, and smacked her out of the air. The Spawn was then instantly met with SDM's god-aura enhanced fist as he punched the Black Spawn, shattering the barrier in an event that mirrored his very first, if forgotten, punch that had the same result.

While the Crew went on to battle the Spawn, SDM allowed Patchouli to recover. She still didn't want SDM to fight, on account of worrying what would happen should the Spawn itself choose to infect him. It wasn't until the Spawn engaged its emergency form that Patchouli allowed him to enter the fray. Not that it ultimately made a difference, as the Black Spawn pulled them all into its despair-filled core. The same mysterious force helped those trapped within it to fight against the overwhelming negativity, and encouraged them to fight back, SDM included. They all managed to break free of the Spawn's hold, and together they combined their powers, wrecking it.

The Spawn managed to survive the attack however, albeit barely, and returned to space from whence it came.

Part III
SDM/Hellgate played little role in this RP, only appearing during the initial invasion by The General two months after the end of Part II. For the first part of the battle, SDM's battle against Zeta Fleet was nearly identical to his battle against Delta Fleet in the forgotten portions of his life. Namely, he could barely land a scratch against any of The General's vessels. This time was a bit different, however, as he didn't have a Spore that would help turn things around. Furthermore, The General's Project Anathema had been allowed to continue in this timeline, and SDM just happened to be a part of it because of his God Aura. The General's Head appeared in Gensokyo and shot SDM down. Shortly thereafter, it abducted the mansion, and all those who were inside him at the time. The General ordered Zeta Fleet to retreat, and SDM has not been seen since.

He was referenced during one of the logs on planet Holomon, wherein the new F Squadron had hacked into one of The General's top officer's personal logs. This officier mentioned a "sentient house" full of "giant fairies" that continually "called out for herbs" while it was being experimented on.

Hellgate 2 Part II: What-If Edition
In an alternate version of the Dark Swarm battle, Patchouli somehow managed to get herself infected. The Dark Spore fed off her still-present grief over losing SDM, and used that to drive her into a murderous rampage. She intended to kill SDM for formerly being Hellgate, everyone else for failing to destroy Hellgate before he could do what he did, and then she planned on letting the Spawn destroy her.

When it became clear that she couldn't hope to stand up against them, she decided to "prove" her point of view by releasing her Spore into SDM. SDM was, at first, confused. But very shortly thereafter, the Spore granted him access back to the memories that had been locked away. He began to recall everything he had done as Hellgate, and the evil spread all throughout him once again. He made a cryptic remark about this "not being part of the plan" and then proceeded to engage his old nemeses.

The battle goes poorly, and Hellgate managed to gain the upper hand, killing Aurion and Arachnos (whom he later revived as a puppet). Even Arachna eventually falls to him, being fatally wounded by a blast of pure hate as years of anguish at her incompetent claws take form out of one of Hellgate's cannons. In their brief exchange, Hellgate manages to reveal that at some level, SDM remains within him and heavily dislikes what he had become. And that this same tiny piece of his old self blames Arachna for all of it.

After Arachna falls, the heroes are demoralized. Hellgate prepares to alter his plans and destroy the world, but then the dying Arachna and Enthropod embue them all with their divine powers. The Black Spawn arrives at this time, and Hellgate decides to match their power boost with his own, and fuses with the Spawn. The resulting fusion is known by the boss header as "Hellspawn," and the battle continues at the time of this writing.

Xat RP
Multiple instances of Hellgate appear in the unnamed Xat RP, which takes place across multiple universes.

In the first universe, Hellgate is revealed to somehow and bizarrely exist alongside his past self, and is also the CEO of Rainbow Factory Industries, which his past self is also a part of. In this universe, the events of Hellgate 2 Part II never happened, and instead the SDM was annexed by the Rainbow Factory of Equestria. Instead of rebelling or acting as a suboordinate, SDM showed himself to be sympathetic to the Equestrian cause, quickly rising through the ranks to become president of the company. As The Factory, he was in charge of Equestria;s criminal justice system, which he gleefully exploited in order to create more Spectra to power the Factory and its various devices.

The Factory was also given a seat in the Equestrian Royal Courts, and used his influence to undermine the political system and essentially "buy the world," running it from the shadows. It was later revealed that this was all done at the behest of the Factory's actual boss and CEO of the interdimensional conglomerate Rainbow Factory Industries (RFI), Hellgate. It should be noted that the Factory was a willing participant in Hellgate's plans, as opposed to a pawn at gunpoint.

Hellgate had founded RFI, and established its various subsidiaries across various universes, the most important of course being the Rainbow Factory itself. His true goal was revealed to be the construction of a new body for the dark god Unicron, after his defeat by Batman several months prior. This turned out to be beneficial when the Brother appeared and started rusting Equestria away. Hellgate's designs for a mahcine that would convert the planet into a metallic sphere were applied as a sort of defense against The Brother's decay, constantly producing new material at a rate that matched the Brother's decay.

At first, Hellgate ordered the Factory to keep his involvement a secret. Hellgate staged a threat against Equestria in order to lure the government into giving the Factory more power, however this plot failed when real-life inactivity brought the RP to a standstill. He later revealed himself in person when he summoned his employees to his office. Sometime later, Lynna arrived in Equestria on the orders of Mr. Hood to keep tabs on it. When Mr. Hood himself finally appeared and refused to answer questions, Hellgate held Lynna hostage, and threatened to kill her if he didn't get what he wanted. When Hood cotninued to refuse, Hellgate killed her.

When the Brother appeared, Hood was the primary informant to Equestria and RFI regarding him. As such, Hellgate elected to establish an alliance with him, even promising him a position of rank within the Factory. The threat of the Brother even came to Arachna's attention, and despite great reluctance on her part, an alliance was forged between her and Hellgate as well.

Eventually Hellgate himself stood before the Brother, and the two had a verbal showdown. The Brother believed himself to be the strongest force in existence, and Hellgate countered with Anathemus' existence. The Brother scoffed at the idea, and claimed that Anathemus was no match for him. Hellgate opened a portal to Nihility, and the Brother went in. He did not survive.

Minutes later, a great stirring was felt all throughout the Multiverse as Anathemus stirred. Angered at being disturbed, Anathemus began to make His way for their universe, with the intent of destroying it. A decision was made to have Arachna build an exact copy of Equestria's world in another dimension, and everyone on the current one would move there. This did not sit well with Hellgate, who refused to go becuase it would mean the end of his scheme. Not even the Factory wouold support him on this, and revealed his boss' plans. Hellgate, angered, fled. He would not appear until after the first world had been destroyed, appearing on the replacement planet.

He challenged the former employees of the Factory to a battle, namely Kanako, Arachnos, and Mr. Hood. Arachna also joined in, and as their battle was waged, Hellgate began to summon forth his god aura. Something went very wrong as he activated its power, and it began to consume him, and cover him in darkness. Anathemus had not yet fallen asleep, and having His power used without His consent angered him. Through Hellgate, Anathemus began to consume the world they had rested on, and now, determined to make sure He would not be disturbed again, He actively pursued the survivors. He did not rest until He consumed them into Nihility.

Hellgate survived, though not by mistake. As the primary source of Anathemus' disturbance, Anathemus cursed him to an eternal life of constant agony, in a body not even his own. Hellgate was attached to a Hellgate of another universe, and as a result the two would frequently switch.

The Hellgate of this second universe was, in fact, not the CEO of RFI but rather an outsider who, like his Crossroads counterpart, was more interesting in destroying things and gaining power. Having another self bound to him forced him to stop one of his own attacks and try to make sense of what was going on.

The first Hellgate (later identified as "O-Hellgate" or "Original Hellgate"), left their body in a confused state. Every so often it would switch control, and a dark, twisted visage of the manor's walls would appear in place of the normal view whenever O-Hellgate was in control. His pained moans could be heard for miles. As time progressed however, it seemed that Hellgate was able to communicate with his other self through unknown means. He eventually returned to Equestria, just as Arachna had returned from the other universe that O-Hellgate hailed from.

Arachna told them that, because the god aura summoned Anathemus, under no circumstances must Hellgate be allowed to use it. This translated out to mean "do whatever he says." Hellgate was essentially handed the power to do whatever he wished, an ability he gleefully took advantage of. He ordered the Princesses of the land, Celestia and Luna to bow at his feet, despite their injuries at his hands. Celestia even died, and Luna was hospitalized. Hellgate then began a long reign of terror that consisted mostly of him setting fire to cities and killing whoever and how many he wished. At one point, he commanded the Factory to order his own suboordinates to murder Luna. This universe's Mr. Hood tried to stop Hellgate in a confusing display where he ordered half of his own forces to commit suicide. Mr. Hood was subsequently killed after Hellgate verbally berated him for it.

When Hellgate had run out of ponies to kill, buildings to burn and lives to ruin, he ordered Arachnos to open a portal to a new world so that his rampage could continue. They arrived in a technologically advanced Equestria, one amde possible through that world's Arachnos' "Arachnos Array." Hellgate immediately set about destroying it while his "followers" tried to explain the situation. This world's Factory demanded Arachna tell everything, including the details of what happened in the first Equestria. After explaining information that she failed to give even the second Factory (later designated as "O-Factory" for "Other Factory"), the third Factory revealed that they let their world burn for nothing. Anathemus would only be disturbed if He was still awake when the god aura was used.

The Factory forcibly conscripted the newcomers into his own ranks as punishmnent for letting their Hellgate into their world, and they set about attempting to stop him before he could do any more harm. "Techquestria's" Hellgate went out to meet his counterpart, while the two Factories attempted to fire the Friendship Cannon at the invader. They missed, and hit their own. Their Hellgate was turned back into an SDM while the second universe's Hellgate was allowed to roam free. Realizing that the game was up, Hellgate fled and disappeared.

He only reappeared twice. Once when a rift appeared in Techquestria, and his and O-Hellgate's "faces" were seen birefly in the sky, and the second time in a rather bizarre incident shortly thereafter. After the Factory's consciousness had disappeared and O-Factory's soul was transferred into a robot (now known as "Executor"), and after Executor, O-Arachnos, O-Lynna, and Arachnos had returned from a trip to the rift, the word "Saya" was mentioned. A strange "personality" overtook Executor, and he started identifying himself as "Sayan Extermination Group 16 Squad 50 Unit 117." He left for the roof of the Factory (a path he could not see after his return from the Rift), and Hellgate arrived to meet him.

Likewise, Hellgate also acted strange, identifying himself as "Sayan Extermination Group 2 Unit Leader." the two of them then proceeded to speak in a bizarre coded language, the gist of which appeared to be Executor telling Hellgate that it was a false alarm. Hellgate then snapped back to his old self, and, unaware of what had just transpired, was confused as to where he was and why he was there. Ditto for Executor. Hellgate then left to continue doing whatever it was that he had been doing. Since this incident, Hellgate has not been seen since.

Hellgate did not appear anywhere in the fourth Equestria, neither the second universe's nor that world's own. He was confirmed to have existed at some point, however. Though in this universe, he did not exist alongside his past self, and the Factory present is in fact a de-Spored Hellgate. According to the Patchouli of this universe, SDM was never informed of his actions as Hellgate, and in fact the topic was considered taboo around him.

A "fake" Hellgate did appear during the Dark Beast Phenomenon. As part of Dark Fortress -SDM's- realm, which was a reflection of his own psychological scars, it was revealed that he did manage to piece together form what little he overheard that he used to be a monster known as Hellgate. He felt consistently overshadowed by who he used to be, and as a result Hellgate appeared to at first be the one in control. Furthermore, Nihilius' influence had somehow granted the Factory partial access to his Spored memories, so he was also able to catch glimpses of his own self as Hellgate. The fake Hellgate was built around his fragmented memories.

However, this Hellgate had a slightly different personality than normal. This was because SDM's understanding of Hellgate was incomplete, leading to this Hellgate having some strange, out-of-character phrases that would be more in line with something a non-spored SDM would say. This Hellgate also took every opprotunity to stomp on the Factory, constantly belittling him and claiming that he is him. His own employees had to convince SDM that he was worth more than his history, and that he had done things that made Hellgate a dwarf in comparison.

After being freed from the influence of the Phenomenon, his Hellgate construct then became a host for the Beastmaster. Shortly thereafter it housed SDM's mind itself as the Beastmaster swapped control, giving himself direct power over the realm and forcing SDM to endure his own teammates' blows.

Personality and Traits
Hellgate's personality is a perversion of SDM's. Warped by a Dark Spore, the desire to gain power to protect his residents (primarily Patchouli) turned into a desire to gain power for its own sake, as any compassion the mansion used to have for others had dissolved into the ether. Hellgate still retains his normal self's arrogance, though in Hellgate's case it is magnified tenfold. Hellgate has absolutely no empathy for those he deems to be lesser beings (read: everyone) and as such has no qualms about murdering them or using them as pawns in his schemes.

Whereas SDM already showed some sadistic tendencies but was capable of restrainig himself, Hellgate has no such need. He revels in the suffering of others; to him, stepping on others to get his way is part of the fun. Though it would appear that Hellgate is capable of some form of restraint after all, for he will not go out of his way to torture someone if it would prove detrimental to his plans.

As stated previously, Hellgate is on a constant quest for power as a result of the Dark Spore within him. Like SDM, Hellgate still detests Gods - even though hypocritically his end goal is to become a God himself. His schemes primarily involve him obtaining godhood and being able to make the universe his plaything. SDM, the author, has stated that even if Hellgate had obtained his goal, the Spore within would continue to drive Hellgate do destroy in a neverending loop. Because the Spore was designed to be only a temporary measure (only until the Spawn arrives and recalls it), it is "programmed" to do little more than to drive its hosts to constant destruction. Essentially, it is akin to an infinite looping error, because an end command was never inserted into it. However, it has been hinted that Hellgate is aware of this fact, and doesn't seem to mind it.

Hellgate is an unrepentant villain, wicked, wrathful, sadistic, and cruel. He is proud of being a complete monster, and enjoys bringing about as much suffering as possible. He has abused, manipulated and killed his own residents, including Patchouli Knowledge, without a hint of remorse.

Hellgate, being the SDM of the future, has virtually the same appearance as him, that is to say a large mansion that can transform into a mecha form. In the few official pictures of him, he is commonly depicted as being a darker shade of red than his unspored counterpart, though in-canon this is not the case.

Likewise, his humanoid soul is also virtually identical to his past counterpart, until he obtains the god aura. His soul form was typically a black "living shadow" with white, empty eyes. With the god aura in his posession, the main body turns a bloody shade of scarlet and his eyes go from white to black. His Shade form is also similar to his non-spored soul form, though it is three-dimensional and actually has mass.

Skills and Abilities
Hellgate shares many skills and abilities, only enhanced with the passage of time. He still retains his omnivision ability, which grants him the sight of all around him. His innate "matter manipulation" power has also been fully developed by the time Hellgate travels back to the past, which bestows upon him near-instant recovery from damage. Additionally, he still retains most of his weaponry and armor, however because Hellgate is an SDM from the future, his Kizeki Corp. enhancements are much more high-tech than SDM's own. His armor is also more advanced than that of the regular SDM.

His physical strength is also very high, though not surprising given his size and his mechanical augmentations. However, his matter manipulation and the Dark Spore have skyrocketed his strength, and it is currently not known what the heaviest thing he could theoretically lift is.

In addition to his enhanced features, Hellgate also carries a new set of powers and abilities, granted to him both by the Dark Spore and the God Aura. The Dark Spore enhances all his pre-existing skills, multiplying the effectiveness of what was already considered formidable, and also grants him control over the element of shadow (as is typical for one infected by a Dark Spore). The Spore also boosts the power of his matter manipulation ability even further, which allows him to restructure the brain cells of any visitor within his walls - which he uses to inflict horrifying visions on his victims. Hellgate's other primary ability is his powerful nearly-complete God Aura, which has a mysterious link to Anathemus and his Vessel. SDM has stated that, if Hellgate ever learned to tap into the full extent of the Aura, he would become significantly more powerful than even an Anathemite. But even though he can only exploit part of the Aura's potential, it still increases his abilities drastically, adding yet another layer of power to an already extremely tough build. The Aura also grants him the ability to survive in, and partially use, Nihility, as well as giving his attacks a divine edge that have the potential to harm, and even slay, gods.

Despite his immense brute power, he is also dangerously intelligent and can pull off complicated plans. It is hinted that most SDMs are capable of schemes of their own, but for the most part their immaturity prevents them from taking full advantage of this skill. Hellgate, having had years to grow out of it and constantly being pushed by the Spore, has had ample time to refine and hone his plotting mind. The importance of having this ability was driven home for him during The General's occupation of Earth, when The General's own plans nearly handed him total victory.

Hellgate is also a masterful manipulator, very easily able to trick and lure others into doing his bidding. He understands how most of his "pawns" will react to any word he says, and carefully constructs his sentences in order to get them to pick up the information he wants them to pay attention to. Once they've completed their task for him, whether they knew it or not, Hellgate is not above killing them to keep them out of his way. He can also play with others' emotions, breaking their minds and taking advantage of their own flaws in order to achieve victory.

All in all, Hellgate can be considered the most dangerous kind of enemy. Not only is he dreadfully powerful, but there is also a very strong mind guiding that power. He only appears at center stage when absolutely necessary, preferring to work from the shadows until the time is right. Very rarely does he ever make a single move that is impulsive; for the most part every single step he makes or life he takes is part of his calculated plan.

Hellgate's Shade
Like SDM, Hellgate can project his soul in humanoid form, unlike SDM Hellgate can do it without the need of an operator and can also project a Shade of himself. This Shade is solid and therefore capable of combat, which he used to great effect when attempting to throw his primary enemies off his trail. Furthermore, Hellgate's Shade can shift its own body to form various weapons (though he seems to have an affinity for bladed weapons) and use dark magic.

Contrary to popular belief, Hellgate's Shade is not a natural skill, nor one gained through the Dark Spore. When using the Shade, Hellgate is capable of dividing his consciousness between his main body and the Shade, but the degree of control over each body is complete. A feat like this is not possible, even for a house, without divine powers. Something that only the God Aura can grant.

On top of that, the Shade has a strong connection to Hellgate's dream world. His vocalizations in the normal world are in fact the "sound" of the Dream world intersecting with reality, and he uses this ability to stun his opponents. This was most demonstrated when the rabbits of Eientei, whose ears could pick up on the sound of the crashing realities, were harmed by the constant and grating noise. He had also weaponized this screeching ability in combat numerous times.

In the dream world, the Shade appears as the stand-in for Hellgate himself. He is also fully capable of coherent speech, and gains immense power from the dream itself. This is because the Shade is in fact from the dream, manifested into reality through Hellgate's God Aura. This is also what allows the Shade to appear and disappear through reality at will, oftentimes retreating to the dream world in order to reach his destination in the real world quicker.

Weapons and Combat Gear
Being a mechanical house, most of his weapons are grafted into his movement systems. Again, Hellgate shares many of the same weapons his younger self has, only enhanced through time, improved technology, and his own matter manipulation altering his output to be at maximum efficiency.

Like SDM, his favorite weapon appears to be his Hadron Cannons, and when combined with the Spore, they become the devastating Black Hadron Blasters. He is also in posession of a quad-missile launcher, though its ammunition reserves are quite low. Like with the Hadron cannons, he can infuse them with shadow, increasing their offensive power and even granting him control over their flight path. Similarly, when he was upgraded to the mark III, the Rebellion gave him a quad-torpedo launcher which effectively acted as underwater missiles. It has not been shown, but it can be assumed Hellgate could infuse them with shadow and achieve the same effects as the Dark Missiles.

During the original Hellgate 1, the titular mansion was also depicted using a since unseen weapon known as a "Shawq Cannon." Its effects and power were never elaborated on, but it did blow a clean hole through his younger self, shutting him down.

Weaknesses and Flaws
The weaknesses of Hellgate are almost nonexistant. In his early days, his control spine would be considered a weakpoint, though since then his defenses have increased to astronomical proportions making it practically moot. Even in the event that it is severed, his Spore has the power to fill in the gaps, moviing his body through a phantom force.

Although it is possible to inflict enough damage upon him to force the Dark Spore to leave his body, this is extremely difficult, almost impossible, due to his powerful defenses. Defeating him requires either divine intervention, his own consent (as part of a further plan), or untraditional tactics (in the original Hellgate roleplay he was destroyed when SDM's soul hijacked his body).

Relationships
Patchouli Knowledge - Formerly his closest friend and later his spouse. Hellgate's relationship with his "creator" has had several changes. At first, they grew close after she was the only one to show him respect. His feelings towards her would later rise to something more, but he refused to admit it to even himself. When the Black Spawn attacked and almost killed Patchouli, he was forced to confess to himself that he had fallen in love with her, and as such would take whatever measures to keep her safe.

SDM resigned himself to unrequited love, belieivng it to be much better to keep it hidden than to risk ruining what the two already had. As The General plunged the world into darkness, SDM would later focus his entire life on just making her happy. An unknown time later, his feelings were apparently reciprocated and the two were married.

However, as the corruption by the Spore within him grew, so too did his outlook on his librarian. His exacerbated anger had attempted to make him strike her, an act he would never forgive himself for. And as the years wore on, he appeared to be less and less interested in his future wife, until he saw her as no more important a pawn than anyone else. When at last she stopped being useful to him, he killed her along with everyone else.

Since travelling back in time and being de-spored, their relationship seems ot be growing on the same path. This time however, the Spore is not present to hinder them. Developments of their relationship have ceased since his abduction by The General.

Flandre Scarlet - SDM had felt a connection to the younger vampire since he became sentient. He sympathized with her living in the basement, ignored and out of the way. He also always treated her with as much resepct as he would the Mistress, believing that as the sister of his master he owed her the same treatment. When Remilia joined the Youkai Team to The General's Head, SDM had told Flandre that no matter what happens, he would always be her friend.

Years later, as Hellgate, he would take advantage of this bond, maniplating Flandre into killing her sister and subsequently everyone in the mansion. Their "friendship" was little more than a farce; only a tool Hellgate would use to keep her as the perfect puppet.

Sakuya Izayoi - While the two of them were literally connected at the hip during The General's takeover, they seemed to reach an understanding. They both seemed to respect the other's dedication to their primary duty, namely the protection of Remilia and her family and friends. In battle, the two guardians also proved to be an effective team, SDM's ability to remotely activate the Luna Dial for its proper owner wound up being an invaluable asset.

After SDM had fully fallen into Hellgate, it remains unknown as to what exactly he thought of her before he killed her, though it can be surmised that, like with Patchouli, he saw her as little more than a waste of his space.

Remilia Scarlet - As his former owner, SDM treated her with nothing but respect. However, he never seemed to be particularly close to her or to form any sort of relationship that was anything other than professional. This would primarily be attribted to her general immaturity that often made her forget her house was even alive.

When he became Hellgate, he only seemed to hold scorn for his ex-mistress, proudly boasting that he had been the one to take her life.

Hong Meiling - Similar to Remilia, SDM did not appear to have any personal connection to Meiling, often referred to only as "the gateguard," but there was never any apparent animosity between the two. As Hellgate, he never talked about her, implying that he didn't even recognize her as a noteworthy resident after executing his Slaughter.

SDM - When delaing with his younger self, Hellgate tends to speak out loud many biting remarks. He seems ashamed at his past form's own fleshy actions, despite openly hating fleshies. Hellgate believes that his past self is weak and overly immature, constantly criticizing him. However, how much of this is genuine and how much of this is simply him trying to agitate SDM is unknown.

The General - Hellgate and The General are the bitterest of enemies. Despite their similarities in methods, the two have nothing but scorn for the other. Perhaps it is because of their similarities that the two are unable to hold anything but utter concempt for their adversary, but no matter the reasoning, the fact remains.

The General had humiliated and insulted SDM so much that his defeat would linger in his mind forever, becoming perfect fodder for the Dark Spore to pick at. This is rather ironic, seeing as in a way, The General helped to create Hellgate by unleashing the Spawn on Gensokyo. The very same "fake power" that destroyed half of Delta Fleet.

Arachnos - Hellgate, much like his younger self, typically tends to find Arachnos as little more than a loud-mouthed nuisance. The only reason Hellgate remembers Arachnos is because he was the one to first use the name "Hellgate" and whenver he appears, Arachnos is usually the first to arrive on the scene solely so he can start making a long-winded speech about justice and order.

Jonathan Scarlet - Hellgate thinks very little of the vampire, even as SDM never truly considering him a resident. Like most of the Hellgate Crew, Hellgate only sees him as an obstacle.

Kanako - Ditto.

Sebastian Aurion - See above.

Kizeki Auf Thanatos - SDM's old anger for Kizeki remains as Hellgate. Though he admits that if wasn't for Kizeki's modifications, nothing he ever did as Hellgcate could have happened. He begrudingly respects her for that and for her impressive technology, but nevertheless when that technology is turned on him he has no difficulty in fighting back against another of his "creators."

Arachna - As demonstrated in the What-If Edition of Hellgate 2 Part II, a small sliver of SDM remains within Hellgate's corrupted mind, and it blames Arachna for everything he had done. As the perfect embodiment of everything he hated about gods even before his infection, his hatred for the diety is seething and pure. Constantly bragging about how good she is and yet never backing it up, always sending envoys to do her work for her and then taking the credit, demanding respect when she does nothing to earn it, and only getting involved when her pride is at stake... He loathes her even more than her servant.

Eventually Hellgate's years of wrath towards her had boiled over, and he unleashed a blast of pure hate that struck Arachna, killing her.

Anathemus - The exact relationship, if one exists at all, between Hellgate and Anathemus remains unknown. Hellgate has alluded to "higher powers" on numerous occassions, and seems to be aware of His existence and strength. Beyond that, little else is known.

Design and Influence
SDM has consistently referred to Hellgate as an "accident." He claims that, at first, the SDM of the future that appeared was supposed to be a "civil asshole" and then the two mansions would have a fight across two threads. It later occurred to SDM that, since he came from the future, his past self would stand no chance. Hellgate then quickly took shape as his personality went from a snobbish jerk to a sadistic monster, and from that point forward everything in the RP was made up on the spot.

SDM claims that Hellgate was a product of studying too many villains as a child. He said that when he was younger, he often analyzed the schemes of villains, and was often baffled by the gaping holes in them. He was also far more interested in the competent villains, which more often than not were the calculating and sinister. He says that Hellgate is the resulting amalgamation of "everything a villain does right." Hellgate is incredibly brilliant and fully capable of manipulating events from behind the scenes, but is not above stepping out onto the battlefield himself when the situation calls for it. Hellgate, lacking a decent motivation, was given a personality that played up how evil he was, thoroughly enjoying it.

The concept of an evil future self seems to have been inspired by the "Dark Danny" character from Danny Phantom, of whom was just that to the titular hero. The majority of his sadistic and calculatiing personality was also apparently lifted from Ganondorf of the Legend of Zelda, and his more boisterous side borrowed from Emperor Palpatine of Star Wars.

The idea of Hellgate being infected was not added to the story until the advent of Hellgate 2, when SDM decided that the sequel should explain how and why SDM would become such a villain. He could not find any decent reason on its own, and so instead corrupted him.

Appearances

 * The Hellgate Saga
 * Hellgate 1 (Main Antagonist)
 * DEPTHS (Secondary Antagonist)
 * Hellgate 2
 * Part I (Main Antagonist)
 * Part II (As De-Spored SDM)
 * Hellgate 2 Part II What-If Edition (Major Boss)
 * Part III (As De-Spored SDM)
 * The Hellgate Gaiden (Main Character)
 * Xat RP (Major Antagonist)

Original Hellgate roleplay

 * "Demonic. Twisted. Evil. Sick. Perverted. House."  -Arachnos, describing Hellgate
 * "Muahahahaha. I'll admit half of that is true. The elder Scarlet's death was orchestrated by me." -Hellgate replies to an accusation of killing Remilia

Hellgate 2 Part 1

 * "Face it. All of you are just like me." -Hellgate taunting his opponents in H2P1 as he tried to force them to kill Patchouli
 * "NO MORE GAMES, NO MORE WORDS, I JUST WANT TO SEE YOU ALL BLEED!" -Hellgate in H2P1 after Patchouli is freed
 * "I'LL SEE TO IT THE RIVERS OF GENSOKYO WILL RUN RED WITH YOUR BLOOD!"

Hellgate 2 Part 2: What If

 * "'Sup." -Hellgate's usual way of greeting his opponents.
 * "You really should have taken her advice and killed me when you had the chance." -Hellgate to his opponents, referring to the Spored Patchouli.
 * "Just think about it for a second. I survived being nuked. I've killed the Black Spawn. Do you REALLY think you weak shits could defeat me on your own?" -Hellgate to his opponents, referring to his "defeat" in H2P1
 * "The Spawn is kiddies to what I speak of. There are powerful forces out there. Dark Forces. Monsters unimaginable and incomprehensible to even the 'all-mighty' Arachna." -Hellgate, presumably referring to Anathemus
 * "I hate you. And I want you die, suffering the misery of all the mortals whose lives you played with and claimed justice." -Hellgate to Arachna, shortly before firing his Godslayer attack
 * "Die, Arachna." -Hellgate to Arachna, after landing aforementioned attack

Trivia

 * Hellgate is perhaps the most iconic villain of Shifting Worlds and without a doubt the most iconic villain of the Anathemus Mythos.
 * At some point, it is believed that Hellgate must have overcome his illiteracy, seeing as he was knowledgable about the library's content despite not having Patchouli around anymore.
 * A parody version of Hellgate, named Heavendoor, appears in the April Fool's Day topic "I am from the past," which is in itself a parody of the original Hellgate 1.