(Author's note: Some readers seem to think that the Haki Johnny learned during his fight with Chinjao was some sort of advanced technology for some reason, so I wanted to take some time to clarify their misunderstanding.
The Haki Johnny learned is just basic imbuing, where you would coat something other than a body part in Haki. It's black because that's how all Haki looks like after the time skip. I don't know why Oda didn't make Haki visible before the time skip, but the color has nothing to do with how advanced the Haki is.)
"Heads or tails?" Laffite asked in his usual Jovial tone as he caught the falling coin with one hand, covering it with the other.
"Heads!" Byron exclaimed with a loud voice, his tone a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
Laffite nodded with a smile as he raised his hand that was covering the coin. "It seems that luck is on your side today, Byron," Laffite said, still smiling as he threw the mythical devil fruit to Byron without showing even a hint of hesitation.
(Author's note: alright people, drop the torches and pitchforks. I know many of you expected and even wanted Laffite to get the fruit, but I have something special in mind for our dear navigator, and besides, Laffite doesn't need a power-up, but Byron does, so cut me some slack, ok?)
"Thank you, Laffite," Byron said as he bowed his head in genuine gratitude because he knew that Laffite could come with many ways to take the devil fruit for himself if he wanted.
I wouldn't have interfered either because I if I had to choose one of them myself I would have given the fruit to Laffite, and even the act of throwing the fruit to Laffite before saying That I'll leave it to them to decide who eats the fruit, was a hidden message meaning that I'll look the other way if he wanted the fruit badly enough to cheat his way into having it.
Byron is a member of my crew, the same as Laffite, and I would kill for both of them, but Laffite has been with me longer than Byron, and he's proven his worth, unlike the latter, who wasn't able to do so just yet.
Is such a way of thinking fair? No, it isn't, but the world isn't fair either. We are an aspiring pirate crew, and I'm not nearly naïve enough to think everyone would get along like the straw hats crew.
As long as my companions understand the bottom line, won't go too far, and still be able to entrust their backs to each other when it's all said and done, then I'm more than happy to let nature take its course without interfering.
That said, however, I'm very proud of Laffite for giving Byron a fair chance to win, even if it cost him a fairly powerful devil fruit.
"I'm sure we'll find something else for you, Laffite," I said with a smile, while nodding in approval at my navigator. "Well, what the hell are you waiting for, Byron? Hurry up and eat the fruit. We're all waiting to see what mythical creature looks like," I urged Byron with a smile.
"Oh, and don't forget to eat the whole thing. You won't get the power otherwise," I added as my smile turned into an insidious grin, causing everyone else to smile in the same manner as well, since they understood what I was trying to do.
"That's right, Byron. You have to eat in small bites too. Your body won't be able to digest all of the devil fruit's power otherwise," Wilson added from the side with a shit-eating grin, causing the others to nod and urge byron to do just that.
"Eh? Really?" Bryon remarked suspiciously while looking at everyone's smiling faces, feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Of course, now hurry up and eat!" I replied with a smirk, causing Byron to take a small bite out of the pineapple-shaped fruit.
Byron's face turned blue as his expression scrunched in disgust, but he didn't stop and kept biting into the fruit one mouthful at a time until his face became a mixture of sickly colors by the time he ate the entire thing.
"Rehahahaha, he actually ate the entire thing!" Looking at Byron's face, I couldn't hold it any longer as I burst laughing while pointing at him, causing the others to begin cackling in amusement as well.
"So, you guys really were tricking me!" Byron exclaimed, his eyes twitching in annoyance.
"Of course not," I replied with a smirk. "This is training, character-building training, and now you have become a better man after enduring the foul-tasting fruit!" I added with a shameless smirk while giving him the thumbs up, causing the others to laugh even more loudly.
"Now, why don't you try transforming?" I asked quickly, not giving him a chance to say anything else. "Try the hybrid form first," I added while looking at him expectantly.
Byron nodded with a solemn expression and promptly closed his eyes in concentration as he began transforming. The first to change were his hands as they turned into long black wings that had red lines inscribed into them, resembling the swirls on the devil fruit he ate.
His legs were next to transform as they morphed into talons with long black claws that looked sharp enough to tear through steel.
His face then began transforming as his nose turned into a long, black beak that looked just as sharp as his claws. The rest of his head (except for his mouth, which remained the same) also took the shape of a crow's head with red glowing eyes.
"The old geezer will definitely have a heart attack when I tell him what kind of devil fruit he gave away," I said with a whistle of appreciation, my smirk becoming more pronounced.
"Like you're one to talk, captain? You gave it away too, you know!" Elly said from the side, smiling as she did.
"I gave it to one of my crewmates, so it doesn't count," I replied while shrugging my shoulder with a smile.
"You have wings, don't you? Hurry up and see if you can fly!" Wilson said from the side while sipping on a bottle of alcohol he took out at some point.
"I'm not sure I know how?" Byron replied hesitantly. "Give me a minute to get used to this from first," he added as he began walking around the deck, trying to get used to the unfamiliar sensation of walking in this new form.
"I can help with that," Wilson said with a smirk as he moved incredibly fast, holding Byron's shoulder and throwing him into the air. "You either fly or sink into the sea, so do you your best," he shouted while looking at Byron, who was (Not flaying) in the air.
It only took Byron a couple of seconds of tossing and turning midair to steady himself in the air while flapping his wings. "That actually worked!" Byron shouted while laughing as he began flapping his wings and flying through the air.
"Take your time in getting used to flying, and then see what kind of other abilities you might have," I said with a smile while watching him fly in the air. "Don't do anything too flashy, though. We shouldn't cause a scene so close to the docks, after all," I added with a firm tone of voice.
"Well, that's the thing, captain," Byron said with a troubled tone as he flew back into the ship and landed in front of me. "A lot of information rushed into my brain about some of the abilities I can use, and all of them are flashy, one way or the other," he added with a sheepish tone while rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, there's a little deserted island not far from here," I said while rubbing my chin thoughtfully. "We'll go there to see the full extent of your new abilities," I added with a smirk.
"We can't take the ship there because that old coot Chinjao might think we're fleeing after taking his devil fruit, so we'll fly our way there," I reasoned, causing the others to nod.
"I'll stay to guard the ship. I'm okay with waiting to see Byron's new abilities later," Bob said with a careless shrug while twirling his mustache.
"Thanks, Bob. Now, those of you who want to see what the devil fruit can do, follow me," I concluded, launching myself into the air, with geppo, and causing the others to follow suit.
(Author's note: discord gg/sEtqmRs5y7 <—- the link to my discord server it already has a couple of awesome guys with memes and constant discussions about one piece)