Olimar didn't know what to make of his life. As a Smasher, he was allowed to make a home of the perfect Smash Mansion. In return for his fighting skill, he had all his worries swamped under pure luxury.

Here in the mansion everything he didn't want to do was done for him. His room was cleaned whenever he wasn't in it, his meals were cooked to the highest standards, the hallways were kept sparkling clean and he always got what he asked for.

But for some reason, Master Hand forbade anyone to leave the grounds. Everything they wanted, the hand reasoned, was right here in the mansion, so why would it be a problem?

And it was true that they were allowed to use the internet to contact the outside world, but that wasn't any good for Olimar. He wanted to escape, see his wife and children for the first time in five and a half years.

Olimar's family must be wondering where he was. First he was left stranded on a distant planet, then he was ordered to hunt for treasure on his company's behalf, and then, when he thought it would all be over, he was drafted into this "Smash Brothers" thing. He was pulled back in time to entertain the species that made the treasures he discovered; stuck in an era where his family didn't even exist.

Olimar looked around his dorm. It was custom built especially for his oxygen-intolerant lungs. This was the only place in the mansion where he could take off his spacesuit; the only place where he could do what he wanted without fearing people barging in to ask him things.

So he used this place to cry. Olimar cried for his family, who were as good as dead in this time. He cried for his friends, who didn't know whether or not he was safe. He cried for the landscapes of his memory, alien to normal people but natural and welcoming to him. He cried for the home that he never thought he'd see again.

Five years. Five excruciating, lonely years without hearing or seeing his family.

Oh, Olimar made friends here, more than he thought he ever would. But those friends couldn't erase his memories of the life he was taken away from. Tonight, he was going to seek out those memories himself; travel to the corporation who stranded him at this mansion and demand he be returned.

He was going to leave tonight. His friends knew about his family, surely they'd understand?

"I don't understand," Fox told Olimar. "Why do you want to leave us?"

"Because I miss my family," Olimar replied bluntly.

Fox and Olimar were watching Link and Mario play tennis.

"And what are we, Olimar?" Fox retorted. "Do the past five years mean nothing to you?"

Fox's outburst distracted Mario long enough to let Link get an ace, for once.

"Haha! Mario, you gotta pick up your game!" To which Mario responded with a tennis ball to the face.

"Fox, maybe we should keep our voice down," Olimar suggested. "I don't think I want the others to hear this."

"Alright, Olimar, why is that?"

"Tonight, I'm going to break out. I'm going to leap the fence and see how far away I can get."

"So you're just going to leave us without saying goodbye?"

"Ye-" Wait… what was Olimar saying? Fox was right, he had made so many friends here. Abandoning them without even saying goodbye would massively disrespect them.

"No, Fox, I couldn't. I can't just abandon you all without warning like that. I'm just going to check and see if escape is possible first."

"I… don't know whether or not that makes sense, but if you're going to come back I guess it's okay."

"Thanks for supporting me. I'll let you know what's on the other side."

"Can't wait to find out," Fox chuckled.

Olimar left the court, supposedly to prepare for the night's trek. He's going to take one step out of bounds and run back in scared, Fox thought.

If it were any other day, Olimar wouldn't even get this far. He liked living in the mansion, it felt safe. But his family… that was something he'd die for. Truth be told, Olimar didn't know why it took him five years to work up the courage to run away. Was it everyone else's heroism rubbing off on him? Was he just tired of his loved ones thinking he was dead? Olimar wasn't so sure. But the past is past, and the future is his goal now.

It seemed like yesterday that Olimar couldn't jump an inch. But he learned a thing or two here at the mansion; things like double-jumping over walls four times taller than he was. Olimar sailed over the barricade blocking him from the outside with ease.

When the astronaut found himself on the other side, he was surprised to hear no alarms, see no cameras and feel no breathing on his back. He escaped so easily it didn't feel scary anymore. But Olimar was only partway to his goal. He had come so far, but he feared how far he had to go. Taking sharp breaths, he carried his legs down the road.

Arms outstretched and legs gliding across the coarse path, Olimar felt free, more so than he had ever felt before. The trees surrounding him swayed in perfect time with his footsteps, moonlight glittering off the leaves. Wait… leaves don't glitter…

The glitter got larger and larger as he ran further and further. Soon the glitter got so large that it seemed to erase the world around him. Olimar's pacing slowed to a halt as the uncertainty became overwhelming. Looking back, the mansion was completely gone. Looking forward, there was naught but white where the road, and the world the road was laid upon, stopped.

Why was there white? It was supposed to be the middle of the night. Olimar approached the edge of the road. Was it a wall, or a void? There was nothing to judge with. As Olimar approached the blinding white, he reached out. Light akin to that of the sun illuminated his hand and only his hand. Nothing else was there to touch.

And then Olimar had to ask himself: why was the void here? Was it cloaking a sight that they weren't supposed to see, or were they trapped in a pocket dimension that simply ended? And what would happen if he were to enter the void?

Only one thing was certain. Olimar's family didn't exist here. They never had, or will. The only way he could ever see them was to leave this place. The void was the only place they could be.

Or it could lead to death, or an endless limbo where Olimar fell forever. But he didn't care. If there was even the slightest chance that it would lead to his family, Olimar knew he had to try it.

He put a foot out… and stopped himself. No, he thought, I can't do this yet. It would be safer to go back and find out anything about this void I can. Just turn around... come back later, when I know what will happen.

Olimar turned around to go back to the mansion, but he turned around too fast, lost his balance and fell into the void.

As he fell, he noticed the layers of the world surpass him. As dirt gave way to stone and stone gave way to molten magma, the light gave way to darkness and his fear gave way to a strange calm.

Would he die? Maybe. Did he care? No. It felt almost like going to sleep…