Batwoman's life in Metropolis wasn't going too smoothly.
Although Wonder Woman had told her to contact her as soon as she landed, Batwoman felt she should at least sort out her living situation first, so she texted the landlord she had found online and rushed to the destination of the house as quickly as possible.
The process of renting the apartment went smoothly, Batwoman quickly paid the deposit, completed the paperwork, and moved her luggage into her room, but the main issue arose when it came to buying daily necessities.
Modern humans use too many and too varied things for survival, Batwoman didn't make a detailed plan before going shopping at the supermarket, leading to her discovery when she came out pushing the shopping cart that she had forgotten to buy some items, including but not limited to air conditioner cleaner, tape, pillowcases, etc., nearly all things she needed to use immediately that night.
Batwoman wanted to head back to buy them, but that meant she had to push this overflowing shopping cart through most of the supermarket again, so she chose to store the goods in the cart.
The middle-aged man at the storage counter stared at Batwoman with a very malicious gaze.
In the first half of Batwoman's life, she rarely encountered such looks, and even if she did, they were never so brazen.
Admittedly, the gender-swapped Bruce Wayne was a beauty, her attractiveness almost matching Bruce Wayne's handsomeness, but the attitude she received from society in this regard was completely different, filled with a lot more malice and lewd scrutiny.
Batwoman disliked this kind of gaze, but she didn't want to pick a fight with such people, so she decided to abandon the storage idea and pushed the cart back into the supermarket for another round.
At that point, the storage counter clerk started muttering some highly unfriendly, aggressive words that Batwoman could clearly hear, standing in place, she sighed, relaxed her shoulders, flexed her arms, and charged back into the market with the cart.
Her strong arms swung the shopping cart around the corner, crashing it through the gap of the counter straight into the clerk who yelped in pain, doubling over and convulsing like a shrimp that had just been boiled.
Hearing the scream, security guards arrived promptly, Batwoman glanced left and right, bypassed the nearest guard, and headed straight into the depths of the supermarket.
The security guard immediately took out his walkie-talkie, intending to have his colleagues chase down the unidentified assailant, Batwoman quickly pulled up the hood of her clothes, tightened the drawstrings, ducked her head and barreled forward with the cart.
As she passed the bathroom, Batwoman's pace halted, followed by a sharp brake, then a side parking maneuver, reversing into the spot, she pulled the shopping cart into the restroom.
The guards outside went back and forth but didn't spot her until the situation calmed down, then Batwoman walked out again.
As she turned the corner at the women's restroom door, intending to head out, bang, the shopping cart crashed straight into a figure.
It was a rather tall man, wearing a white shirt, glasses, carrying a bag on his back, and he was extremely handsome, standing there like a photo from a magazine spread.
In usual circumstances, a handsome man and a beautiful woman bumping into each other by accident seems like the start of a wonderful love story, but the biggest problem was, this man wasn't just tall, he was also incredibly firm, physically firm, excessively firm.
Batwoman was shocked to see the front of the shopping cart crumpled into a crescent shape, and within a quick two seconds, her brain whirred into action, and she immediately realized whom she had run into.
Not good, there's a dog, retreat!
Completely ignoring the man's apologetic gesture, Batwoman agilely jerked the cart, brushing past the tall figure and sprinted out of the aisle, with the man clearly stunned.
For in that brief moment, he had clearly seen Batwoman's face, and his super brain had even quicker deduced whom he had encountered.
He worked it out alright, but there was no reasonable explanation for why Bruce Wayne had turned into a woman.
Clark was stunned.
This was Superman of the Prime Universe, young, indeed, but seasoned enough to be considered well-traveled and knowledgeable, but truth be told, this lady was someone he had really seen before.
Clark hurriedly turned to chase, and although Batwoman was fast, she couldn't escape Superman's Super Vision, he quickly spotted her weaving through gaps in the shelves.
He immediately moved through the crowd in pursuit, but at this time, a preoccupied Batwoman hadn't realized that security was onto her again, and at the end of an aisle formed by shelves, she braked sharply, narrowing her eyes at the three guards who had surrounded her.
"Hey, what's going on?" that Kryptonian Search Dog's voice was already within earshot, Batwoman took a deep breath, at this critical moment, between human and dog, she chose the dog.
She stepped back to make room for Clark to come charging in, Clark turned his head to look at her, his eyes full of bewilderment, Batwoman pointed at the guards and said, "Just now, a clerk harassed me, so I gave him what he deserved, and they're chasing me."
Who says a dog isn't a human's best friend? The word 'harassment' rang unpleasantly in Superman's ears, he instantly widened his eyes, stepped forward, and confronted the guards, "What's going on here? Why are you chasing this lady? Is she a fugitive of some kind?"
"Uh, she..."
The guard tried to say something but looking into Clark's eyes, burning with the flames of justice, he really couldn't muster much to say, in the end, they all went to the security room, checked the surveillance footage, the manager of the store came to apologize, stating they would fire that employee and asked Clark not to report the incident.
Indeed, Clark came with a camera and recorded everything while the surveillance video was playing. This supermarket happens to be Metropolis's largest chain, and this would be a significant blow to their reputation.
After hearing the manager's request, Clark looked towards Batwoman, who just shrugged her shoulders indifferently, so Clark then turned to look at the cart of goods Batwoman was pushing.
"Of course, as an apology, we'll give this lady everything free of charge. Is there anything else you'd like to buy?" the manager asked with a smile.
"Of course, and a lot of it." Batwoman quickly scrolled through a list of countless items in her mind, and then the manager and Clark watched, dumbfounded, as the lady dashed out like a bolt of lightning and soon pulled back three carts of goods.
To a large chain supermarket, these goods were really nothing. The manager cheerfully used his card to pay for them, escorted the two to the door, and said, "I am really sorry, both of you. I hope this hasn't spoiled your pleasant date."
"Well, we're actually not."
Batwoman laughed and nodded to the manager, "It didn't spoil too much, goodbye."
Clark was stunned.
Not that he hadn't seen Bruce laugh, but for a straight man, a woman's smile clearly appealed more to his aesthetic, and it carried some unusual significance; Kryptonians had hormones too.
As soon as Batwoman turned around, her customer-service smile completely disappeared. She continued with a straight face, expertly carrying bags and bags of stuff on her shoulders, ready to walk all the way back to her apartment.
"Hold on, ma'am," Clark immediately followed and said, "It's a bit much to carry all that. I have a car; how about I give you a ride back?"
"No need," Batwoman rejected the offer outright, without so much as a courtesy phrase, nor did she thank Clark for his assistance just now, because she knew all too well how people like Superman were at taking advantage.
Clark still followed behind Batwoman, showing no signs of leaving. He zigzagged from left to right, making several attempts to take the things from Batwoman's hands and carry them himself.
The Justice League members of the New 52 are relatively young, perhaps the youngest among many universes, and because of the equation that Batman deduced, Darkseid's war came early. The Justice League was assembled to face the enemy, but actually now was supposed to be a period of acclimation for the League.
At this time, Clark hadn't been working at this newspaper for long, having just stepped out of the newbie category. He and Lois knew each other for a short time, barely acquainted colleagues.
Clark was not exactly being attentive, at least that's what he thought. He was genuinely curious about this female version of Bruce Wayne, about how she could...
Even after his super brain's super thinking, Clark still couldn't surmise how this female Bruce Wayne could be so beautiful, nor could he figure it out despite his accurate judgment of justice and mile.
So, Clark, driven by his instincts, kept circling around Batwoman and became the main source of trouble in the early stages of Batwoman's new life.
As usual, just before Batwoman was about to go insane from irritation, Clark finally had his way.
Mainly because, in the end, Clark simply snatched the items. Who could outdo Superman in a grabbing contest? Batwoman could only look on speechless as Superman carried her things to the car.
Batwoman knew that's just how Kryptonian Search Dogs all over the cosmos were; she thought she might as well have been taken to the station by security.
As also entirely usual, the car went straight into the underground garage of the apartment, and Clark, not wanting the lady to carry such heavy things, took several large bags of goods and rode the elevator with Batwoman.
"Um, I have a question."
"We're not involved."
"Actually, I meant to say..."
"Bryce Wayne."
"??!!"
"Really, it's nothing."
"Alright then..."
"No, there's no extra space here for you to sit, give me the stuff."
"But..."
Bang!