Shadow Dance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the X-men episode. For the Angela Carter novel see Shadow Dance.

This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article.
Please improve it or discuss changes on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.

“Shadow Dance”
'X-Men: Evolution' episode
Nightcrawler in another dimension.
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 26
Written by	Boyd Kirkland
Directed by	Boyd Kirkland
Production no.	26
Original airdate	February 2, 2002
Episode chronology
← Previous	Next →
"Mindbender"	"Retreat"
List of X-Men: Evolution episodes

"Shadow Dance" is episode 26 of X-Men: Evolution. It originally aired on February 2, 2002.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

At the Institute, Shadowcat catches up with Rogue on the way to a training session. She yawns, and Rogue asks if got enough sleep since she and Lance were on the phone until 1:30 that night. Rogue also wants to know if she’s asked him to the Sadie Hawkins Dance, but Shadowcat says no, on account of what the others would think if she did. Irritated, Rogue says she shouldn’t care. Shadowcat counters by inquiring if Rogue’s asked Cyclops, but Rogue reminds her that the last boy she danced with ended up in a coma, and it’s no fun dancing without touching.

The two girls meet up with Jean Grey. Shadowcat asks why the entire team has to be present for a test for Nightcrawler, and Jean replies that as a team the X-Men have to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Rogue cuts her off in mid-speech and storms out of the elevator. Jean asks why she’s in a bad mood, and Shadowcat responds that the dance has depressed her because of her “no touching thing.” Shadowcat asks if Jean is going with Duncan, but instead she plans to "disappoint" him since he already bought the tickets even though girls are supposed to ask the guys.

Forge is at the Institute as well. He’s invented a device that will allow Nightcrawler to teleport greater distances and explore the dimension he travels through when he uses his power, but Kurt's uneasy about the journey. Forge tells Nightcrawler to concentrate on a far away location, and Nightcrawler teleports in a strange dimension with lakes of fire and brimstone. Shadowy monsters can be seen in the background. Nightcrawler then reappears in Forge’s lab, excited about the trip. He teleports back to the Institute, but there’s been a rift between dimensions, and one of the monsters appears in the tear...

At school, Kurt is telling Jean and Scott about his journey. Jean heads off for class, and asks Scott if she can talk with him at lunch. Kurt thinks she’s going to ask him to the dance, but Scott thinks she’s going with Duncan. Scott questions Kurt about a girl in his math class who might ask him. Kurt brightens at the mention of Amanda Sefton, and hopes the rumors about her liking him are true.

Kitty meets Lance and asks him to the dance. Lance dodges around the issue, saying he’ll think about it. Disappointed, Kitty tells him to let her know. As she walks away, Lance smirks and tells her he thought about it, and the answer’s yes. Lance throws up his arm in excitement and the ground shakes. The two smile at each other.

After class, Amanda shyly asks Kurt to the dance, and he gladly says yes.

Back at the Institute, Forge, Logan, and Xavier are watching the footage from Kurt’s test and spot the shadowy creatures that inhabit the dimension. Forge remarks that they need more data and Kurt will have to make another trip, and Logan volunteers to go with him for added protection.

At lunch, Kurt tells Scott and Evan that he's worried something will go wrong on the date, but Scott tells him to relax. Jean appears on the scene, but before she can talk to him Taryn rushes to Scott’s side and asks him to the dance. Jean looks dismayed and walks away. Across the quad Rogue and Risty watch this all unfold. Risty remarks that Rogue’s lost her chance with Scott. Risty asks if they can go together, and with a little coaxing Rogue agrees. Risty insists it’ll be a blast, unaware that in Forge’s old laboratory the rift is still open, and monsters are on the verge of popping out.

As school gets out, Taryn says hi to Jean, but she gives her the cold shoulder and drives off with Duncan. The girls see how jealous she is, but Taryn smirks saying Jean only has herself to blame for not snagging Scott when she had the chance.

At the Brotherhood boarding house Lance is getting ribbed about his date with Kitty. Fred laughs that they wouldn’t be caught dead at a school dance, but Tabitha teases him by saying she was thinking of asking him. Todd hops up and down and says he’ll go. Pietro thinks it’s pathetic. Tabitha wants to know if he thinks he’s too good for her, but Pietro replies that he can keep four girls busy dancing at the same time. Tabitha says they’ll all go and show the high school how to party.

Nightcrawler and Wolverine are prepped to go on another test. This time, the dinosaur-like monsters assault them and Wolverine’s claws barely keep them at bay. They return safely, but Nightcrawler is terrified. Wolverine calls the Professor to come pick them up, since there won’t be a return trip. Nightcrawler insists that he’s never going to teleport again. Wolverine wants to know if there’s any chance of the monsters following them through an open gate, and Forge responds that the odds are slim; it would have happened by now if at all.

At the dance, Kitty dances with Lance, as Taryn does with Scott. Tabitha, Todd, and Fred are all together, and they’re dressed pretty obnoxiously. They see Pietro enter with four girls on his arm. Kurt makes excuses for his gloves, though Amanda doesn't mind. Duncan ignores Jean. She sees Taryn with an uncomfortable-looking Scott, and Risty slyly observes that Jean wishes she were with him. She then sees Rogue and latches onto her arm, leading her off to go scout out boys. As they slow dance, Amanda confesses that she knows the truth about Kurt, and the “real” him that he hides. He panics—does she know he’s a mutant?

Forge talks to Xavier and Logan about making another trip when a gate opens in the deck below them. At the dance, Fred and Todd are waiting for Tabby outside the Ladies’ Room, tired from so much dancing. One of the monsters stalks down the hall, and Todd screams. Tabitha exits the restroom and says she doesn’t look that bad, but then turns to see what the real fuss is about.

As Lance and Kitty dance, a rift opens right between the two of them. A monster lunges out and leaps through her intangible body. More rifts open, and people panic. Rogue drags Risty out of the gym. One creature targets Scott and Taryn, and she looks away just as he lifts his shades and blasts it. Another goes after Duncan and his friends, but Jean telekinetically bashes it against a basketball hoop. Lance protects Kitty by breaking up the floor in front of a creature. Amanda begs Kurt to make them disappear. When a monster goes after them he has no choice, and teleports with her to the other end of the school. Forge and Logan arrive on the scene.

Rogue takes off a glove and tries to goad the beast into touching her, but Risty blasts it with a fire extinguisher exclaiming, “What are you, nuts?!” The two run, and just as the monster is about to get them it disappears in a flash of light. Forge is wielding a modified dimensional transporter, and has sent it back where it came from. The X-Men are with him, and they go after more. They find the Brotherhood, who subdued one thanks to Fred’s heavy backside. They zap it and run off to dispel the other monsters.

Kurt and Amanda walk alone. Amanda explains that one day she saw Kurt arguing with Rogue in the hallway, and accidentily spotted him turning off his inducer. She already had a crush on him, but ever since then she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about him. She asks Kurt to show her his real self, but he’s reluctant. He doesn’t think she’ll like it up close. Amanda says that’s for her to decide. Kurt concedes, and turns off his watch. Amanda gasps at the sight of the blue and fuzzy Kurt, and he looks ashamed, but then she touches his cheek and tells him that blue is her favorite color. Beaming, Kurt takes her hand and says he knows a shortcut to the ice cream shop. Arm-in-arm they disappear in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind an empty street.