“Chibi-usa stole my Silver Crystal and tried to return to the future. That's what alerted Rubeus as to her whereabouts. The other Sailor Guardians raced to protect her but were sucked up into Rubeus' UFO! Chibi-usa! Everyone is gone because of you!”
— Usagi Tsukino
(DIC Episode: "Rubeus Strikes Out")
Usagi follows through with confronting Rubeus in a desperate gambit to rescue her friends from his otherworldly UFO. Though she won't be going alone as she gains an unlikely ally in Chibi-usa who wants to own up to her past mistakes.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Achilles' Heel: On Rubeus' ship, there's a black crystal which serves as his power amplifier. Thanks to Chibi-usa, the crystal's destruction not only takes away his strength, but also leads to his ship's destruction.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The moment he sees Esmeraude appear before him, Rubeus begs her to take him back to the future.
- All for Nothing: Sailor Moon lying about Chibi-usa not being the Rabbit falls apart as the child runs into an invisible barrier that reveals her crescent moon.
- All-Loving Hero: As infuriated as she is for Chibi-usa stealing her Silver Crystal and being instrumental in her friends' abduction, Usagi just can't bring herself to give up on the girl or turn her over to Rubeus.
- Beam-O-War: Rubeus uses his Dark Power Stream to counter Moon Princess Halation.
- Best Served Cold: Rubeus intends to drag out defeating Sailor Moon as he wants her to suffer for all the grievances she's given him since his arrival in the past.
- Bowdlerize: The shots of the Guardians held in crystal crucifixes were cut from the DiC dub.
- Call-Back: Sailor Mercury brings up Sailor Teleport as the only solution to escaping the exploding ship.
- Character Development: Usagi settles with accepting that she'll have to confront the enemy alone and do everything in her power to keep Chibi-usa safe. She even mentions how her old self would have complained the entire time while trying desperately to avoid the upcoming danger.Usagi: I guess my crying days are over...
- Crucified Hero Shot: The captured Guardians are held prisoner in crystal crucifixes for a majority of the episode.
- Did You Actually Believe...?: Sailor Moon tries to trick Rubeus that the little girl who followed her was actually her cousin and not the Rabbit.
- Everyone Laughs Ending: Defied. The penultimate scene has the Sailor Guardians laughing over Usagi having to make pancakes for Chibi-usa while assuring everyone that they won't be great. The last scene, however, cuts to the Black Moon Clan where Esmeraude gives her report to Prince Demande.
- Foreshadowing: While alone in his throne room, Prince Demande summons a hologram of Queen Serenity and places his wine glass in front of it, giving the illusion of having imprisoned the Queen. Later he states that everything he's ever "wanted" will be his to take.
- Gravity Master: Rubeus is able to manipulate the gravity levels within his ship and uses this to either crush Sailor Moon with intense gravity or toss her around the room.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sailor Moon decides to meet Rubeus alone knowing that her upcoming confrontation will be the equivalent of a suicide mission.
- Heroic Willpower: Even as she's being crushed by an intense layer of gravity, Sailor Moon gains the willpower to stand strong as she refuses to give up on her loved ones.
- If We Get Through This…: Sailor Moon promises to give Chibi-usa pancakes with lots of syrup if they're successful with using Sailor Teleport to go back home.
- In Medias Res: The episode picks up with Rubeus having successfully captured the Sailor Guardians while making his ultimate offer to Sailor Moon.
- Internal Reveal: Chibi-usa tells Mamoru that she figured out that he's Tuxedo Mask.
- Karmic Death: Rubeus had an unhealthy habit of leaving the Spectre Sisters to die while calling them worthless failures to their faces. Esmeraude gives him a taste of his own medicine by leaving him to die on his exploding ship after calling him out on his many failures.
- Must Make Amends: The petite estranger follows Sailor Moon on her mission to redeem herself for the loss of the Inner Guardians.
- No-Sell: The first attempt at Moon Princess Halation doesn't work against Rubeus.
- "Not So Different" Remark: After Chibi-usa runs off to join Usagi in confronting Rubeus, Mamoru comments how the two could pass for identical twins if it wasn't for their age difference.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: With Rubeus having abducted her precious friends, he gives Sailor Moon no choice but to surrender herself and the Silver Crystal.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Both Sailor Moon and Chibi-usa can only stand in shock as they see the captured Guardians in front of them.
- Rubeus calls out Esmeraude's name in despair shortly before his ship is destroyed.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Luna and Artemis briefly consider disguising themselves as Chibi-usa to distract Rubeus. But they quickly accept that two cats does not a human girl make.
- Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: After Chibi-usa removes Rubeus' power amplifier, his ship goes up in flames at various points before it disintegrates in a massive flash of light.
- Power Source: Rubeus' powers are amplified by a black crystal in his main room. Chibi-usa finds it and destroys it which takes away his strength and frees the Guardians.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Esmeraude gives a well deserved one to Rubeus for his many failures and for disgracing the Black Moon Clan.
- Say My Name: Rubeus' Last Words are him screaming Esmeraude's name in a pathetic bid to be spared.
- Scream Discretion Shot: The scene where Rubeus calls out to Esmeraude cuts to the outside of his ship as it explodes into oblivion.
- Straw Misogynist: Rubeus shows some shades of this as he refers to Esmeraude as a woman to belittle her.
- Taking You with Me: Even if he were to die and never return to the future, Rubeus takes great pleasure in knowing that the Guardians will be blown up in the ship alongside him. Thankfully the girls manage to escape with Sailor Teleport.
- Trying Not to Cry: Usagi tries to stop herself from crying when she resigns to meeting Rubeus' demands.
- Villain Opening Scene: Rubeus announces to Sailor Moon that she can't win without her precious Guardians and she'll be better off giving up.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Luna expresses concern over Usagi openly hating on Chibi-usa and expressing a desire to give her up to the enemy after all she's done.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Esmeraude taunts Rubeus by saying he would have finished his job much sooner if he killed Sailor Moon and the Rabbit when he had the chance. Rubeus counters by saying that he intends to make the Pretty Guardian suffer by dragging out her upcoming death.
- You Monster!: Moon actually calls Rubeus a bastard after seeing what he did to her friends.
