The battle was finished.
Smoke curled into the nauseous orange sky, drifting sluggishly like the last breath of some monster that had finally been slain. Shattered stone covered the city, and the palace of Dressrosa, so proud before, now stood in broken silence, its vibrant tapestries torn by the rage of a giants' war.
Doflamingo was defeated.
Face-down on the shattered marble, blood pooling beneath him, his signature pink feathered coat singed and torn. His sunglasses were shattered—one lens cracked, the other hanging by a single bent hinge. For the first time in decades, Donquixote Doflamingo had been brought to his knees—and by a pirate who was barely heard of in the world.
Solian Flare stood over him, chest heaving.
His Solar Rift cloak fluttered weakly behind him, sparks from his final battle still flying from his body. The air around him shimmered with the final ripples of heat, and his right hand still throbbed with a dying red glow—plasma cooling, after pushing it near collapse.
He'd won. Not for the joy of victory—but because he'd had to.
And yet, there was no cheering. No applause. No great shout of triumph. Just a long, unnerving silence, broken only by the muffled crackle of flames and the groans of Dressrosa as it drew in the aftermath.
The Crew Assembles
Vance "Ironfist" Rhoan was the first to move, hauling his bruised and bloody body up the broken stairs of the palace, his iron gauntlets clanking dully.
Kael "Rustfang" Deyn followed, his red sword under his arm, limping severely but refusing help. The others—Jorin, Milo, the Twin Tempest, Rock Lee—all followed slowly, their faces solemn as they gazed upon the fallen Warlord.
Solian glanced up at them, his eyes sharp but weary.
"I didn't kill him."
Vance's brow furrowed. "You should have."
"I thought about it," Solian admitted, voice rough. "But this isn't just about revenge. Killing him would be too easy. I want the world to see him like this. To see what happens to a person who cowers behind power and fear, then loses."
He motioned to the seastone cuffs already forming around Doflamingo's wrists. The system had forged a pair after his victory—one of the benefits garnered from having taken his Solar Rift fruit to its very limits.
"Let him rot," Kael said softly. "He won't rise again."
Rock Lee crouched next to Doflamingo's body, silent.
He was strong. Cruel. but strong. A mountain in your path to rise," Lee said, then stood. "But now, the path is clear."
The Realization
Later that night, while the city smoldered low under the burden of reconstruction and the populace dared to peek from the shadows, Solian stood alone on the top of the castle remnants. His system interface hovered softly before him, faint blue against the dark.
System Notification
New Timeline Anchor Point Identified.
Cross-referencing Events…
Streams of text flowed through the interface. World events, historical markers, changing data…
Then it stopped.
Timeline Synced: Year — Two Years Before the Departure of Monkey D. Luffy from Foosha Village.
Solian's heart missed a beat.
He stared at the words, his mouth half-opening in disbelief.
Two years…?
His fists were clenched, the entirety of it hitting him for the first time. All of the people that he knew from the manga, the pirates that he idolized, the legends that he admired—Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Ace, Shanks—they were all still out there. But they hadn't begun their true journey yet.
He had come ahead of the wave.
"This… this is my head start," he muttered.
Not just a system. Not just a Devil Fruit. But time itself—the sole benefit no one else had.
Dressrosa Reels
The people of Dressrosa were beginning to rouse themselves below.
The curse that Doflamingo had on the island was broken with his downfall. The cages, the manipulated toys, the silenced voices—one by one, they were awakening. Not in happiness. Not yet. But in cautious hope.
Families were reunited. Soldiers laid down arms. Former gladiators—some freed, some still wounded—gathered to mourn the dead and care for the wounded. Even the children, who were too frightened to cry, cried now openly.
The Solar Rift Pirates watched it from the courtyard.
"I anticipated they would cheer," Milo said.
"They're still afraid," Jorin said. "They've been under Doflamingo's control for too long. Fear doesn't vanish with one battle."
"But hope grows," Kael said. "And we struck the first spark."
Solian rejoined them shortly, hands in his pockets, face unreadable.
He looked out over the broken city and saw more than victory. He saw possibility.
"This city isn't merely free," he said. "It's adrift. It needs someone to rebuild it."
"You're thinking of ruling it," Jorin said baldly.
Solian didn't deny it.
Someone has to. Someone not corrupt. Someone who understands how much this world suffered." He glanced at all of them. "I did not come to this world to be some ordinary pirate."
Vance smiled slightly. "You came to be something greater."
Meanwhile.
Far, far away, in the silent halls of Mariejois, the Five Elders sat around the war table. On the table between them was a copy of that day's latest intelligence report. The Cipher Pol 0 seal was still wet.
"Doflamingo. defeated," the bald elder said roughly.
"And not by a Yonko or another Warlord. By some total unknown," the tall one with the katana said.
"Solian Flare. Solar Rift Pirates. That name keeps coming up."
"And this is not the first time," chimed in the third elder. "Marine bases, renegade pirate crews, now Dressrosa."
"He's too much of a risk to let run free."
There was a lengthy silence until the mustached elder broke it.
"Dispatch a larger force. Allow the Vice Admirals to remind the world who keeps the peace."
And in Marineford…
Admiral Kizaru was lounging in the observation room, sunglasses down over his eyes.
"Dressrosa, eh… Bzzzzt… pretty gutsy for a rookie pirate…"
Akainu stood behind him, arms folded, scowling at the data sheet.
"He's catching up too fast. We should've finished him off when we had the chance. This is what happens when we allow warlords to do as they please."
"You're the one who voted for Doflamingo's reinstatement, Sakazuki," Aokiji spoke up quietly from the shadows.
Akainu snarled but did not argue.
A New Dawn
Morning dawned slowly on Dressrosa. The skies were still for the first time in days. The castle, broken but still standing, was the first to be kissed by the morning sun.
Solian stood at the edge of the ruined balcony with his crew surrounding him.
No system task appeared. No reward drop. Silence.
And yet… for the first time in a while, that silence was enough.
"Two years," Solian growled again. "That's what we have."
"To do what?" Vance asked.
"To get strong enough. To build something solid. And to ready for what's coming."
The others nodded.
Below them, the Dressrosans began to rally—slowly, cautiously—under the Solar Rift banner.
Not as prisoners.
But as citizens of something new.