Carefully weaving her way through the dancing, and in some places drunk, party, Natasha searched for both Samantha and Bastian. Who both said they would be here. She worked her way past a brown haired girl who looked like she was dressed as a purple "Venom". Natasha finally recognized Bastian by the stairs and went up to him. "Hi Bastian." She said, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind. Bastian smiled.
"Hello Natasha." Turning around, he gave her a kiss. "That's a nice costume. Who are you dressed up as? She looks really hot." They both laughed. "I'm dressed up as Asuka from the Anime Evangelion." She told him. "I'm definitely gonna have to check that one out sometime." He said. "Who are you dressed up as?" Natasha asked. Bastian was wearing a white lab-coat that was stained with fake blood and had on glasses with his hair combed in a way that made him look nerdy. "I'm dressed as Herbert West from Re-Animator." Said Bastian, holding up a fake needle filled with a green, glowing liquid. "Hmm, I'll have to check that one out as well." She whispered, before giving her boyfriend another kiss. As they savored the kiss, someone with a white robotic face painted over their own bolted down the stairs. Natasha saw the character and suddenly broke the kiss to punch the person in the face as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"OWWW!" shouted the person as he fell to the floor. "What was that for Natasha?! It's just Bishop!" said Bastian. Natasha froze and looked closely at the person she had just punched. Sure enough, it was her boyfriend's best friend Bishop. "Uh, sorry. I uh... thought you were an android." She stammered. "It's alright. I only dressed this way as a joke. You should've seen what your boyfriend here did to me after I did my knife trick. Bastian kicked me right here." Bishop explained, pointing to his groin. "You deserved it!" jumped Bastian.
"I could've lost a bloody finger!" Bishop chuckled. "No you couldn't have. I never miss Bastian." Bishop stood up and rubbed his jaw where Natasha had hit her. "I'm shocked, that was quite a punch." "I'm sorry about that, I just can't stand the Androids." She apologized. Bishop stood up straight and looked at Natasha carefully.
"So... you're the one my friend keeps talking about. Gotta say, you're quite the catch." At this comment, Natasha blushed. "Th-thanks. Oh and thank you for inviting my friend and I to your party. Speaking of which, have either of you two seen Samantha?" The two boys were about to answer her question when the answer crept up behind Natasha. "BOO!" jumped Samantha, picking Natasha up from behind with some difficulty. She succeeded in scaring the red-head, but Natasha rolled her eyes when she saw who her friend was dressed as.
"Asuka, prepare to be cocooned to the ceiling." Samantha said in a cheesy hissing voice. She was dressed up as XenoGirl! Her costume wasn't bad either. It was a complex and impressive bodysuit with a limp latex tail and a rubber mask, which wasn't too bad, considering the horrid XenoGirl costumes that Natasha had seen in stores. "Oh no! Please don't cocoon me XenoGirl. I'll let you take my EVA for a spin! Not the cocoon, please." Natasha joked. Samantha finally put her friend down and removed her mask. "Welcome to the party Nat!" she squealed, giving her best friend a hug. Natasha heard her stomach growl, and realized how hungry she was. "Excuse me guys, I'll be right back. I need something to eat."

She paced over to the food buffet and looked for something suitable for her consumption. Then she saw it. A giant bowl of Peanut Brittle. Natasha licked her lips and reached for the bowl when she caught sight of something in the bowl. It was what looked like a laser pointer. Except there were three of them positioned in a neat triangle. The tri-laser was positioned in the bowl, but gradually moved until it was fixated on her hand. Natasha was shaking with fear that the three laser dots were used by some weapon as a means of aiming. The tri-laser left her hand and glided across the table over to a stack of napkins. It began circling the stack and Natasha realized that whoever was controlling the laser points, wanted her to grab a napkin. Cautiously, she grabbed one off the top and immediately noticed something peculiar about it. There were marks scratched into it that seemed to resemble words. Natasha unfolded it carefully and held it up to the light. It read:

I KNOW YOUR TRUE FACE XENOGIRL.
Unless you WANT EVERYONE IN THIS PARTY TO HAVE THEIR SKIN and/or SKULLS REMOVED,
COME OUTSIDE AND FACE ME. BE SURE TO WEAR YOUR SUIT.
-THE PREDATOR

Natasha looked around for any sign of the person who had left this message. This so-called "Predator". But there was none. Even the tri-laser had vanished. The party-goers continued to dance and have fun, completely unaware that their lives were being threatened and were in fact in Natasha's hands. She knew that she had to go out and face this menace, but the fact that this person not only knew who she was, but had also followed her easily made Natasha shudder. Did this person tell anyone else about her identity? Who was this "Predator"? Was it someone too powerful for her to handle? Natasha looked at her friends still by the staircase, cheerful and laughing. She knew what she had to do. Natasha dashed to the back door, unzipping her bookbag.

{}

Charlotte watched from a rooftop as Natasha left the party inside and went out the back. "Well, time to give the Chitinous Teen a proper greeting." She smiled, activating her cloak. The Predator jumped over to other rooftops, making her way around the house towards the back. But when she got there, all she saw through her infra-red was an empty alleyway. "Where in the-"
"WHO ARE YOU!" XenoGirl hissed from behind her. Charlotte cursed herself for being so naive.
'Of course non-earth substances would have trouble showing up.' She mused to herself, switching her mask's display to night-vision mode so that she could see her.
"Hello XenoGirl. Although I may know your human name and face, that is not what counts here. The same goes for me. I am not who my human name says I am. To you, and anyone else that I hunt, I may be known as...
...The Predator." XenoGirl spread her claws, realizing who she was up against. Natasha had heard of The Predator. But she had never seen her or realized how powerful a person of her notoriousness could be.
Though the Predator was cloaked, she could clearly see the outline of her body with her Xenovision. Charlotte turned around to face her opponent. She extended her wrist blades. XenoGirl's tail extended to its full length of nine feet. Staring eachother down, the two warriors tensed their muscles, ready for the drop of a pin.
A car alarm went off nearby and taking advantage of the opportunity, Natasha pounced towards the Predator.

Charlotte saw the attack coming and simply allowed Xenogirl to pin her down. Xenogirl sprayed resin from her jaws onto the predator's mask. But unfortunately, the resin didn't harden and spread over her. It merely dripped off the side of Charlotte's mask. Unser her mask, the predator grinned.
"Nice try girl. But I'm afraid that trick won't work on me." She snickered. With a malicious grin she stabbed her right wristblades into Xenogirl's side. Natasha shrieked in pain. She swiftly yanked the predator's arm out of her abdomen and flipping off of her. Red blood hissed as it spilled out of her wound and onto the roof. While Xenogirl clutched her side in pain, hoping the healing would kick in soon, Charlotte noticed her red blood eating through the roof like acid. "Acidic blood? How interesting. I think that suit changes your body as you wear it. I'll be happy to take it off your dead corpse when I'm done with you. I wouldn't mind filling in for you as XenoGirl." Natasha's green eyes glowed underneath her mask in anger. She knew it was time.
"You will NEVER wear this suit! It will always be a part of me! It would likely turn you into a feral monster, bent under its will if you tried to wear and attempt to control it. It only serves me!" she roared.

The xenosuit started to change, its spines and tail grew razor sharp. Purple stripes formed on Xenogirl's body, glowing brightly. Her arms and legs became more bulky and muscular. Natasha's wound sealed up. Her jaws grew larger as well as her teeth. Her head became more serrated and ridged. Once again, XenoGirl had entered her beastial form. Natasha could now see that her opponent's eyes were filled with fear.
"What's the matter Predator? Has the game gotten harder? Do you feel like quitting?" she laughed.
Charlotte bit her lip in anger. Since when could XenoGirl do this? Determined, she switched on her shoulder mounted plasma canon and extended her spear.
"I haven't even drawn my hand yet." She said. Her canon locked onto XenoGirl. "It's my turn now."
The Predator fired her canon. XenoGirl barely managed to dodge the blast. It had hit one of her back spines and resin was now leaking out of it. That weapon was deadly. She needed to take it out. But she'd have to get closer. Dodging more of Charlotte's dangerous aim, Natasha shot her tail out like a lasso, coiling it tightly around her legs. She then swung the Predator through a pipe on the roof and slammed her into the ground. The force of the impact made Charlotte's back armor crack and she coughed up a little blood.

Xenogirl retracted her tail and leapt onto the Predator. The girl wasn't moving. Natasha assumed she was unconscious. Now that her cloak was down, she could see the Predator's body better. This woman wore a complex suit of armor with a few gaps that were covered by netting. Her belt seemed to be loaded with tools and weapons. Xenogirl was most interested in the woman's mask. It was a both strange and intimidating design of a being with eyes. Curious, Natasha grabbed the mask with her claw and carefully lifted it off Charlotte's face. To her surprise, Charlotte's eyes flipped open, and with a smile, she took her spear and impaled XenoGirl. While the chitinous teen hissed in pain, The Predator stood up and dug the spear in deeper.
"I think that's game over for you XenoGirl." Said Charlotte. XenoGirl simply grinned and started chuckling.
"Quite the opposite actually. I've got a purse full of quarters." She chuckled. Natasha shredded her shoulder canon and kicked the Predator over the side. Charlotte managed to grab a flagpole on her way down, and XenoGirl clutched her belly where she'd been stabbed. It would take a lot to heal this wound. She leapt off the roof and dashed into a convenience store that was closed, smashing through the door.

{}

Natasha couldn't talk. She had grabbed a bag of Reese's pieces off the shelf and had stuffed several clawfuls of them into the suit's mouth and was rapidly chewing. Being in the middle of such a tense battle, she needed her suit to hurry up and absorb the peanut based foods she was consuming and convert it into resin and heal her body. The suit had returned to its regular form to conserve energy and help heal her. Swallowing the candy, Natasha looked over her shoulder to see that the broken spine was reforming and filling with resin.
'Finally' she thought. Her suit had healed itself up completely when she heard the sounds of heavy boots stepping through the store. "Very clever of you Xenogirl. You took out my best weapons. That canon's history. And my favorite spear has been broken into pieces by your damned acidic blood. Perhaps I didn't play my cards right. Come on out and we'll finish this game." Said Charlotte.

Xenogirl thought for a moment, and she then came up with an idea.
Using her Xenovision, Natasha could tell exactly where The Predator was. She was crouched atop a shelf and was leaping from one to the other, in search of XenoGirl. It wouldn't be long now before she found her. Maybe she could weave the resin across her body manually. Similar to how she stretched it like a sheet over Peter earlier that day. Natasha grinned, knowing that The Predator was just prey in her web that would be cocooned. Looking over her shoulder, she saw The Predator was now only one shelf away. Natasha braced herself, claws and tail poised to work fast. Charlotte jumped onto the next shelf and looked down into it. Before she got a good look though, XenoGirl's tail yanked her foot out from under her. Losing her balance, The Predator toppled into the aisle below.
"Damn it!" she shouted. Natasha looped her tail around Charlotte's waist, holding her arms to her sides. Once again, she tore off The Predator's mask. She then sprayed resin across her head.
"NO!" she screamed. XenoGirl grinned, as the resin spread over her face, muffling her cries of protest. The resin halted at her neckline where her armor began. But that wouldn't stop Natasha this time. She grabbed the edge and dragged it down The Predator's body, swiftly and carefully, making sure the resin had hardened before touching her armor. She then began spinning the woman, wrapping her tight from every angle she could. AS she got closer to being done, Charlotte attempted to escape.
'I WILL NOT LOSE!' she screamed in her head. But all she could do was extend her wristblades. She couldn't move her arms an inch. The cocoon was complete now. XenoGirl picked up the finished cocoon and stuck it to a nearby wall upside down with some resin. With a simple mental command, Natasha willed the resin to recede from Charlotte's face, who was nearly unconscious.
"All right, I know how thingss work with you Predator. sSomeone hiress you to kill ssomeone elsse. I demand to know, who hired you to kill me." She hissed. Charlotte looked at her victorious opponent.
"I'd think you would know who sent me. It's those damned Android boys. You've been a real pain in the ass for them and they would be quite pleased if I were to bring them your skull. And they pay quite handsomely for it." She grinned. XenoGirl sighed. "Well you can go tell them that they ain't getting it. I rather like my head where it belongs. And I will continue to stop their criminal activities in any way I can." Natasha proclaimed, releasing her from the cocoon.

"I'd actually rather not. Now that I've had my first failed assignment, I doubt any gang will be accepting of me anymore. And I realize that there are others who can best me now that I've met and fought you. My father always taught me to be the best. And if someone managed to best me, I should become their apprentice. You are now my master XenoGirl." Said Charlotte, bowing before the Chitinous teen.
Natasha froze, she didn't know how to react to this. The girl who had just been trying to kill her, and had stabbed her twice, now wanted to be her apprentice since she was beaten. She paused. Then she cautiously allowed the jaws of her mask to unhinge, revealing her human identity.
"I'm flattered by your hopes to be my apprentice, or even my partner. But unfortunately... I don't trust you. You just tried to kill me, and you could be doing this as a way to stealthily assassinate me later. I'm afraid it will take a lot before I even begin to trust you." She told the professional killer.

This seemed to leave Charlotte disappointed. Her eyes looked a little watery as she seemed to search her head for the proper response. "Xeno- no, Natasha. The fact that I give my absolute best in any fight, should tell you that since I lost this one, I clearly lack the skills to defeat you. Even if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't be able to." She said sincerely. Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"That didn't seem like your best to me. There was something held back in your fighting that told me you were hardly trying." Charlotte looked at the floor. "Maybe, in the back of my mind, I really wanted to be your apprentice. Maybe I admire you and feel it would be an honor to be by your side. Maybe beheading you would crush the hopes of many citizens of this city, including my own. Natasha watched the girl sulk on her knees. She then decided to do what was right. Natasha crouched in front of the sad Predator and wiped away her tears. "Alright. I'll do it" She lifted the Predator's mask in front of her face. "But I don't want you to follow me around, calling me master. I'm not your master." She said, pushing the mask onto Charlotte's face.
"But we are allies." The mask clicked into place. "And we shall come to eachother's aid if we are able." Closing her mask up, XenoGirl stood up. "Rise, my fellow hunter."
Grinning happily, Charlotte stood up. "Thank you XenoGirl."

"Anytime."

The End

Natasha tossed and turned atop her sheets in her Xenosuit. She had been having nightmares for a few weeks now. She was standing atop the Empire State Building, looking down at the streets that were crowded with people who just stood there with smiles on their faces. Almost as if they were expecting something. Natasha looked to the ocean. And she saw it. A tidal wave of blackness. Of resin. Natasha's eyes were full of fear as the waves smashed through the streets, consuming the citizens below. When the tide had gone down, and the waves had depleted, the world below was very different. The Buildings were covered in resin and the citizens were another story. All the women were now Xenomorphs, grinning at the shredded and mutilated bodies of their friends, families, and other citizens. In unison, they all looked up at Natasha. "No!" she roared. They all rushed up the building walls, eager to snatch her. Natasha ran to the stairway down, only to find it blocked off with resin. There was no escape for her. "Natasssha."
Natasha jumped at that all too familiar, hissy voice. She looked up and saw the Queen towering over her like a mighty god. The Xenomorphs had made it to the roof and were surrounding her.
"Join ussssssss." Hissed the Queen. The Xenomorphs had formed a circle around Natasha. They all sprayed resin upon her simultaneously. Natasha screamed as she felt her mind being invaded by the Queen's. The resin smothered her face and she stood up, now a regular Xenomorph. Undistinguishable from the hundreds of others around her. The creature that had been Natasha Xander let out a screech.

"NO!" Natasha woke up in her bed. Feeling sick to her stomach, she undressed from the Xenosuit and made her way to the bathroom. She turned the sink on, cupping her hands under the faucet to catch the water. She brought the handful of water to her mouth and poured it down her throat. She did this several times until she was no longer thirsty. Remembering what Charlotte had said, Natasha looked into the mirror and opened her mouth to inspect her teeth. To her shock, her canines had grown significantly longer. She looked like a freaking Vampire. She poked one and suddenly cut her finger on it. "Ow!" a drop of her red blood landed on the sink. Some smoke rose from the area where it had landed but after a few moments, the hissing stopped and the acidic blood hadn't eaten that far. Natasha looked into the mirror. She realized how much she had changed in just a month. But if you asked her at any given time, she couldn't tell you whether she was Natasha Xander, or XenoGirl.

"Who are you?"