Part 8: Update Eight: The Trial

Update Eight: The Trial

Welcome back, folks! Last time, on Chrono Trigger, we were gentlemen and walked Marle home. Now let's take her inside and see just how pleased the royals are that we brought her home.



Something I should point out before I forget (again) that it exists; if you're on the world map and leave it idle long enough, the indicator of what time period you're in will pop up in the lower left corner. If you don't know the age, then it'll be "???". It's a pretty neat kind of thing. Though, as you'll see later, there's very little trouble telling the different eras apart.



It seems like we were just here.



Ah, here come our accolades and praise.



It's good to see that being a Chancellor is the sort of thing you just pass on to your children.





...Oh, shit, we're not going to be lauded as heroes, are we?



Definitely not! Oh, crap, oh, crap, oh, crap, we're--



Thank you, Marle! Thank you for saving us!

She's shaking her head in that shot up there, by the by; the sprites are very expressive. I'd have made a .gif, but, eh, .



Terrorist!? Wait just a second, Chancy, we're totally not Al-Qaeda!





The two guards by the door move in, while two more from the throne room join them.





Marle does her best to keep them the hell away from us.



But we're still surrounded. Kind of. We could run back to the forest, I suppose, but I'm sure they'd catch up to me during an encounter.

However, Marle has a daring plan.



She's unhinging her jaw, like a snake, and will eat the first guard who comes near Chrono. It's also how she escaped the castle the first time.





The Chancellor doesn't accept this shit for a minute; he gives no fucks if the Princess has another story.





Pictured: Chancy giving no fucks.



And then we're dogpiled.



During the chaos, one guard shivs Chrono, so as to prevent a messy trial where he could exploit the justice system to escape.

This guard was later promoted to Captain for his ability to save the system money on prosecutions.





And the screen goes black.





I still think this stained glass window looks fantastic. This game is twenty years old today (at least, in Japan; it wasn't released here until August of 1995), and there are parts that still look great.





I'm sure some of you are expecting Phoenix Wright jokes, but that's low hanging fruit, and I won't reach for it.



"Lick me."



That's right, I avoid Phoenix Wright, but when I see the MST3K opportunity, I take it.







If you're curious about what The Tickler could be, whatever you do, don't Google it.

I think I need to exorcise and burn my hard drive now.



Jesus, we hung out (kind of) for a couple of hours! Execution is not the solution!



Oh, yes, let us begin.



Alright, we'll instill our good values on them first and win them over before Chancy has the opportunity to do any damage. First impressions and all.



Excellent question, Pierre!



Oh, we're using the old, "He didn't do it!" defense. I see no way this will go wrong.



How the fuck do you know that? Unless Marle told you, and from what I can guess, the Chancellor probably didn't allow those kinds of shenanigans.



Well, hell, I did. I mean, I had to advance the plot, Chancy.



I made no such pretenses; I straight up ran into her.





In case you forgot, when we first met Marle, she shoulder-checked us straight onto our ass.





I subdued her? She got up before I could even move!



I suppose time travel isn't a legitimate legal defense.



Chancy is behind the text box here; after his last line, he goes back next to the Judge.

In this game, you can move the text box from the top to the bottom with a tap of a button, and I usually forget to do it. You're never missing much by not doing it, but sometimes it's nice to see who's speaking.



I only find these effective when you scream it into your DS.



You're saying that me "subduing" the princess "on purpose" has nothing to do with a kidnapping case?

Oh, hell, we have the public defender.



I'm sure the Chancellor is just laughing his balls off here.





Hey, wait a minute, we're responsible for this justice system! When we saved Leene, Ye Olde Chancy wanted to implement a stricter criminal justice system!



This isn't just solely Present Chancy being a dick! He was trained to do trials like this!



Pierre leaves and returns with a little girl.



...

This is almost as cute as Yapping Eevee's LP.



It was our pleasure, little lady.



"He saves cats, so he's clearly not a shit-bag."



Let's hope so, Pierre.



Now, some of you are thinking, "Leave, there's more to this Trial! What the fuck are you doing?"

The fuck that I'm doing is that I've a special surprise for the rest of it. Cool your jets, folks, and be patient; we'll see what all else can happen here soon enough.

_{I hope.}



Frankly, I can't think of a better motive for kidnapping someone wealthy and of a royal status.



Truthfully? No, not at all. There was a guy at the Fair giving away fifty bucks for giving him some of those Silver Points and it's way easy to make a shitload of those.







"We had one witness who liked him, Your Honor! That's like, three times as many as my last trial!"





Now we get to see how effective our defense was. As mentioned above, this trial can be quite lengthy, but we did it all quick-like.



This guy and his multiple identical siblings are the ones who vote on our guilt or innocence. We're off to a good start.



Dick!



Anyways, this is about as good as you can do. If I remember right, there will always be at least one person who thinks you're guilty, which should result in a hung jury, but in this justice system, majority wins.






Editing both of the above into the update, since they're both good points and I think both are correct. However, I don't know 100% myself, so it seems easier to do it this way.




If you look in the crowd, you can see people moving during the shots of the men voting. They cheer or boo, and fist-pump at their votes.





Well, folks, this one is wrapped up. We avoid going to jail and can go on home.



...Aw, crap.



Well, that's not so bad. I wonder if they give good time.



Suck it, Chancy!







Thinking about it, I wonder if Marle has any power to give us a pardon. I know that royalty has certain powers and some hold other titles (like Duke of Whateverland or Earl of Thisplaceia), but could she be able to pardon Chrono? Or would that be more under the purview of the King?



Perhaps she can do something like that; the Chancellor seems worried.



Talk about a high-profile trial. John Grisham never wrote drama like this.





: What's done is done. Even royalty must obey the laws of the land.



I think it'd take some heavy therapy and good drugs to forget what she's been through.





"Hurry up, my Big Bang Theory viewing party is about to start!"



Two guards drag us off, while Marle shakes her head.



It's just three days, Marle. We'll be okay. Don't worry your pretty little head a mite.



Before we leave the courtroom, we're treated to another shot of this. It still looks good.



And then we go to this shot, which looks great, too. Seriously, for a sprite-based game, Chrono Trigger pulls off some great vistas and views.





We're led into the Prison Tower, where we'll serve out our sentence.



...Excuse me, motherfucker?



You get your decrepit ass back here, shitbag!





And then the asshole behind you kicks you in the ass.



Did you not hear about the trial! We only aided her flight from the castle! No kidnapping!



EXECUTION!?



Neither do I! Three days in solitary!



...You're a cunt, Chancy.





And the Warden is too cowed to stand up to the Chancellor and call him on his shit.





Hey, didn't we see you running around at the Fair?



Yeah, I remember you, you were constantly losing.



...Well, maybe I shouldn't have sassed him.



The screen fades to black...



...And we wake up in a cell.





Chrono stands here for a bit, blinking his eyes, like he's actually just waking up.



And takes a look around his surroundings. There's not much to see.



But there is a full heal, and a present on the bed.







Ethers restore 10 MP, and since I haven't mentioned it, max MP in this game is only 99.





Not much else to do here but save, so let's do that.

Next time, on Chrono Trigger, let's see if we can avoid being executed! Stay tuned!




In case you hadn't seen it, Explosionface made another great thing, and AndwhatIseeisme did a great thing about it.

Welcome to the annals of SA smiley history.





Do you remember the surprise I mentioned earlier? When it comes to the Trial, some of the actions you take at the Fair can seriously affect how it plays out; we had a fairly boring Trial, where we were pretty well proved to not be an asshole.

Through the magic of me convincing Silver Falcon (which required untold amounts of candy, Steam games, and flattery), I'm proud to present to you

The Trial Of An Asshole


Hey, guess who just started playing Phoenix Wright games for the first time a couple months ago? Guess who also has no compunctions about "low-hanging fruit" as Leave put it? That's right: me!

Side Update: Turnabout to the Future

This is what happens when you mess up Chrono's Trial scene as much as you possibly can. I present it to you in the style of a Phoenix Wright trial. If you haven't played any Phoenix Wright games: 1) I'm sorry. 2) GO PLAY THEM NOW. They're on sale on the eShop at the time this will be posted, so you have no excuse!

The court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Chrono.

I, your Chancellor, shall serve as prosecutor!

I, Pierre, represent the defense.

Mr. Chancellor, the prosecution may call its first witness.





Is this true? Who was responsible for initiating contact?

Maya was.



Several other acts have also been brought to my attention that call the defendant's character into question.

Objection!



The defendant's coldhearted nature is irrefutable.





Earlier that day...





Yep, that's too bad. Tough break, kid!

Yeah, we kinda did ignore her. We're monsters!



I think the people have seen enough. Please proceed with the testimony!



Well, there was this one time...

Earlier that day...





Yeah, Gato kinda beat us up. A lot. So we nommed that shit.

Hee hee... You're such a pig, Chrono!





Stealing from a helpless, hard-working citizen who only wished to enjoy the fair... How could anyone sympathize with such a ruffian?





Her fortune did tempt you, did it not?

Well...

Earlier that day...





We kinda swiped Maya's pendant.



And we kinda didn't give it back.



Turns out, the game won't even let you continue until you talk to her.



May I have it back?

Nope.

You can even refuse, and she won't say anything about it! But again, the game won't continue until you give it back, so...



Then, we dragged Maya over to Old Man Melchior.



Maya shakes her head for a bit if you try to convince her to sell the thing she JUST told you "has a lot of sentimental value. You monster!





Melchior realizes what Chrono/The Butz is too dense to figure out, and lets the matter drop.



Nothing more, Your Honor. The prosecution rests.

This court sees no reason to further prolong the trial. This case is extremely clear. I see no room for mis-interpretation of the facts. This court finds the defendant, Mr. Chrono...



Yep, that's a guilty, all right.







Then, the scene after Chrono is hauled off is a bit different.



He has been found guilty by trial. I trust him to your care.



That's so rude! Kicking a Butz when it's down!



His execution is three days hence. See that he is here to attend it.





No questioning the Chancellor here! You're guilty, son!

And then Chrono was executed. The end.