KOF Extras

Lady Zero (non-canon)

Zero had a long day and tiredly went to bed after reading a story to the kids. His little lion cub laid on its bed near his bedside table as he climbed into bed.
"Good night, Glugan," Zero said before he went to sleep.

Zero had a strange dream about a yellow robot. He didn't quite remember it but he fell somewhere between in the dream and woke up with a jolt.
Zero woke up with a jump and was even more shocked to see the faces of all the kids from the orphanage standing over him.
"Ah!" Zero shouted, backing away in surprise. He calmed down when he realised that it was only the kids. "What is it, children?"
"Who are you, ma'am?" One of the little boys asked. "Where is Mr. Zero?"
Zero became confused.
"Ma'am?" Zero asked in surprise. "But children, it's only-"
"Where's Mr. Zero, and what have you done with him?" Eric asked. "Are you a witch?"
"Huh?!" Zero said in shock. "What do you mean?!"
To his surprise, the kids started fighting him. Zero leapt off the bed and started holding them off too, regretting to ever teaching them how to fight.
"Kids, it's me!" Zero exclaimed, while trying to defend himself. "Why are you fighting me?"
He received a tiny punch from a little girl named Sarah, and Zero caught her fist.
"Sarah, don't," Zero said, trying to calm her down. "It's me! Geronimo Zero!"
The girl tried to wriggle her hand out of Zero's. Zero held it firmly, not letting go.
And then he looked at his hand.
His hand was small, and his fingers were slim and long. It looked almost as if it was a girl's hand!
Zero stopped fighting and looked at both of his hands and felt his body. His body was a lot smaller and a lot curvier.
And then he felt his face.
Then his hair. He had very long hair with a hime cut at the front.
To the kids' surprise, this mysterious woman screamed in terror. She screamed so hard till she was hoarse.
"No!" Zero cried in agony. "No! This can't be happening! What is wrong with me?! Am I dreaming?"
The children thought she was going crazy. They couldn't do anything but just stand and watch as the woman screamed and cried in pain.
The children thought it was best to leave her alone and leave. They fled from the room and decided to look for him in the garden instead.
Zero sank to the floor and cried, not knowing what he should do. Just as he was thinking that his life was over, he heard a small growl.
Zero looked up and saw his pet lion cub growling at him, not recognising his appearance either.
"Glugan?" Zero called. "You don't recognise me either?"
To his surprise, the cub ran on its four stubby feet leapt into his arms, snuggling down.
"At least you recognise me," Zero said between tears as she stroked Glugan's fur. "Thank you, Glu."
Zero took a deep breath and released it slowly. He was a woman now, and he had no idea what to do. She carried the cub towards the mirror connected to his wardrobe.
He looked at herself in the glass. Glugan looked the same in her arms, his tail wagging, while he looked completely different.
He was much shorter, with his hair lengthened. He had a full fringe and a round feminine face. His eyes were a light shade of Amber while his body was drastically changed.
"I can't show myself like this," Zero told himself. "I'm not gonna go out as long as this lasts."
Then he realised that he had a huge responsibility of taking care of the children there. They had to be fed, and clothed. Only the night before had he realised that their food was running low.
Unless someone had donated something, they had no food for the day. They had enough funds, though, and Zero had to go to the grocery store to restock their resources.
"No, I can't let these kids down," Zero told herself again. "No. I need to figure something out."
Since the children had already seen him like that, he needed an idea.
"I know," Zero got an idea. "Geronimo Zero has a sister. Geraldine Zero."
Geronimo wasn't his real name to begin with. He just made that up for the sake of identity documents. He still preferred going by Zero.
He put the cub down and rummaged in his cupboard for something she could wear. She found the hooded jacket he wore when visiting France.
She chuckled when he remembered how he wore it as a disguise when he got to know about the BOF and CYS members being in France at the time. But the disguise so didn't work since it was already old thanks to someone else...
So she wore that. It looked more like a dress now than it did before. It only seemed like a trench coat before, but now... it looked more like a casual dress!
And it was incredibly loose. Zero had to fold the sleeves to fit better.
Zero looked at herself in the mirror again and adjusted the collars. He tried as best as he could to tie her hair up in a bun because the last thing he need right now is silky strands dangling around his face.
Zero took a deep breath before leaving the room with Glugan Jr. curled up in his arms. The kids were in the living room, not sure what to think of the situation.
"What have you done with Zero?" Eric asked as soon as she stepped into the room. "Where is he?! Why are you here?"
"Geronimo's... out of town at the moment," Zero said. "He won't be back till... well, he didn't tell."
"When did he leave?" Sarah asked. "He didn't tell us about it?"
"He didn't because... it was urgent," Zero answered. "Even he didn't know that he had to leave. So yeah. He left all of you with me and left early this morning."
"Okay, enough about that now, who are you?" Enrico asked. "Who are you, lady?"
"I am his sister, Geraldine Zero," Zero said. "But you can call me Zero too."
Zero gave them a smile and went to the kitchen with this lion. The kids quietly snuck behind her to watch.
Zero put the cub down on the counter and stroked its fur before beginning to make breakfast for himself and the children.
The children watched as she made a large batch of scrambled eggs for everyone.
"She reminds me of our old Zero, only... she's a lady," one of the kids whispered. "Right, guys?"
The others agreed and continued to watch her prepare breakfast. Even the way she flipped the strips of bacon on the pan was identical to Zero.
He served the breakfast to the children in the dining hall. Even the way she served reminded them of Zero.
"Miss, is it okay if we introduce ourselves to you?" One kid asked. "You're new here, and surely, it's the first time you're seeing us."
Zero shook her head.
"There's no need for that," Zero said. "I know all of your names."
He then proceeded to call them all one by one to show that he knew their names.
"How?" Darrell asked. "This is the first time we're seeing you!"
Zero just smiled and served the breakfast.
"Geronimo told me that we're running low on groceries," Zero said, feeling weird to refer to himself in the third person. "Who wants to come shopping with me?"
No one volunteered.
"Oh come on, kids, no one?" Zero said, looking around the dining hall. "No one at all?"
Well, in the end, Enrico and Eric volunteered. They were twin brothers that Zero found wandering around the streets.
So Zero brought the kids with him in his car and brought them to the department store.
Zero had a hard time adjusting the seat to match his height before driving off to the store.
"Miss Zero, I thought you said that your brother left town urgently?" Eric suddenly asked. "But why didn't he take his car?"
"Because he went by train," Zero quickly said. "It's too far to drive, so he took the train and left his car with us."
The two boys silently nodded and they arrived at the shop.
Zero allowed them to take whatever they wanted while he went to get the groceries. She pulled the hood on to cover herself up a bit.
'Why has this happened to me?' Zero thought as he handed some chicken to the butcher to be cut. 'Why me? And how did I get myself turned into a girl?'
He didn't know that it was because of that dream. He didn't know that the yellow robot, Stein, was the cause of this.