Sound the alarms

Ah, luckily everything was starting to cheer up. Isabelle seemed to react well to his ramblings, so that was good. He asked her what she was doing in a library - though the answer would likely be the obvious to read books that many people seemed to enjoy for some reason. And yes, there it was, books. Books to learn to read, hmm. That was less nerdy than reading books for fun, he supposed.

''Aha, cool. But... Don't all books tell a story?'' he asked, a bit dumbfounded, scratching his chin. But then he had an idea, not a good one, but an idea nonetheless, and knowing Allen, he'd share that idea without a second thought: ''Maybe you should get some comic books! They have loads of pictures, so it's way less boring and less words.'' He smirked, feeling really smart. Best book advisor ever.

What?! How could she not know what comic books were.. She looked like she waltzed straight out of one with her fluffy ears and wings, for Pete's sake! His face displayed an exaggarated shocked expression.

''YES!'' he yelped when she mentioned pictures, a bit sudden, a bit loud. Oops. Don't scare the lil girl again, he reminded himself. ''But much better! It has like loads of pictures that tell the story, and then the balloons say what the people say..'' He conjured a white text balloon in the air, with the word Hey in it. It was slightly see through and bright, seeing as it was made from light. ''Or think.'' The previous text balloon popped and was replaced by a cloud shaped one with a question mark in it. ''Wanna go look for one?''

Allen's energetic spirit often merged well with younger children, he had no trouble joining their imaginative play or hyperactive bouncing. Isabelle was a more timid child, which proved to be more difficult for Allen to handle. But he tried his best to calm her down, and seemed successful.

As always, he took the opportunity to impress with his abilities. Back home he was used to being careful, always hiding his powers, but on this island he could literally shine bright like a diamond. He revelled in her gobsmacked expression, more than happy to be admired for his mad skills.

And his trickery certainly seemed to inspire her to go look for comic books, as she exclaimed a loud confirmation. ''Let's go then!'' Isabelle jumped up, but didn't get very far. He frowned. Had she hurt herself? He opened his mouth to ask, but saw the way she avoided saying anything, so he too swallowed the words he was going to say. Instead he turned to her and offered her his arm to hook hers into, if she wanted.

He walked to the end of the row of books, where you could see the different available categories. Visual novels and comics. Target acquired. ''So, who is your favourite superhero?'' he asked, pulling out a few random books, revealing some Avengers comics. ''Or heroine, of course.''

The comic book isle, Valhalla. This was the place where Allen was as at home as he could ever be in a library. The pictures, the action, it was like watching a movie, but you had to move your eyes to switch the frames. And Isabelle also seemed to like it. That was good. He started pulling out some of the titles. The experience reminded him of rainy Sunday afternoons, where he would camp out in the attic and read the old Superman comics from his dad's childhood boxes.

Every time he asked her a question, he seemed to have 50 50 odds of her just straight up not knowing what he was talking about. It was a strange experience, but he was more than happy to explain. ''A super hero is someone who is... super, and saves people and does good things. They use their powers to help people and defeat evil.'' He smiled and flipped through the pages, pointing to the Hulk smashing through a wall of a burning building.

''See? And a heroin, that's a super drug, hahahah- eh, wait no don't tell anyone that, drugs aren't funny.'' Damnit Allen, inappropriate. Think before you speak! He quickly continued, trying to save himself. ''Actually, a heroine, that's a female super hero, y'know, girl power!'' He bend his arm to 'show off' his muscles. ''You could be the flying heroine protecting everyone.'' He softly patted her on the head. ''When you grow up, of course.''