#head matron

...and we learn that Artie and Theo already knew each other before then, too.

But what does Artie mean by telling Theo to not "get scared now" after knowing Artie so long? Afraid of holding a gun... or afraid of Artie? Makes me wonder what Artie did before they both ended up in that orphanage!

Before Artie can elaborate (though he probably wasn't going to right then anyway), he and Theo realize more staff are headed their way.

Of course, that fan translation of the above page was very wrong about what Doll says. She doesn't say she will find a way to keep him/make him hers. No one calls anyone "baby". 😮‍💨 This does not, however, rule out the possibility that Doll tries to have Snake turned into a bizarre doll, if he dies. We do have to worry that bizarre doll Snake might turn against Finny and our earl simply because Finny left him to die. Same problem if Snake somehow lives (which I highly doubt); he could feel abandoned and choose Doll. Snake remaining loyal to our earl might not matter, though; Undertaker could turn him into a basic bizarre doll in order to simply show him off to our earl -- and possibly Finny, too -- later, just to make them feel worse about his death.

The fan translation of the next page isn't nearly as bad. The language here is more formal, but the gist of it was right:

I agree with @fwippysays, who said Finny might be thinking back to his master being arrested, then comparing it to now with Snake dying, because these are moments when Finny feels powerless to help those he cares about.

I hope Snake hears Finny's heartfelt apology for leaving him behind. Thankfully, the snakes are there to witness this: that Finny wanted to destroy Doll and take Snake with him. It's just that he felt he had to focus on their mission, otherwise Snake's death would be in vain.

Now what? Kill the approaching staff?

Artie has Theo get the head matron's gun.

There's commotion down the hall, it seems. Probably more staff coming after hearing gun shots.

I can't tell if Snake is dead already or just still suffering. Theo might be saying something about having to deal with Doll, but it looks like Finny doesn't think she's much of a threat right now.

It could also be that Finny knows Snake won't survive a wound like that (if he's even still alive).

Meanwhile, people are coming down the hall and about to turn the corner to find them.

I can't tell if Finny is about to automatically kill those people... or beg them for help.

Then this page was left out of the spoiler pages I had before:

Oliver just isn't the sort to resort to killing so easily, which is odd, since Layla/Al is.

Artie doesn't trust Susan to actually help them. She would either stab them the first chance she got and/or send them walking right into a trap (like snipers). So, it made sense to just kill her.

So, now Snake knows that Doll is one of the "people" benefiting from the blood collections... and presumably from organs, too.

Then the two main staff ladies stand in front in a move to protect Doll, I assume.

Theo questions them and directs a lot of his anger towards Doll, it seems. Understandable.

Oliver and Mabel are still holding jars with organs from orphans inside. The head matron pulls out a gun and shoots!

Finny, sweet Finny. He lunges to save Theo and the others, and he catches a bullet to the shoulder.

EDIT: Finny throws the jars at the two ladies; that's why they try to shield themselves!

But throwing the jars hurt his shoulder even more. Poor Finny.

Other half will be posted soon.

While Snake is trying to process all this horrible information, the staff get involved again, shooting at them and breaking more of the glass jars.

The head matron breaks a jar with a brain 🧠 in it, meanwhile, she's got someone's large intestine on her left arm. 🤢

I really don't know what the head matron says, but then Mabel uses Theo's hands behind his back as a spring board, to attack them.

Looks like Mabel kicks the head matron in the head so hard that she might actually be knocked out, and now Susan is the only staff member, but she also has a gun.

Too focused on Mabel, Susan doesn't notice Oliver sneaking around and up behind her, now holding a large knife to her back/left arm.

Theo is probably telling Susan to give up. Susan drops her gun, but Doll isn't done just yet....

Doll goes in for an attack, aiming for Mabel, but....

The head matron and Susan have caught up to the kids again and continue to shoot, shattering another organ jar.

Even Doll seems annoyed at the intrusion from the staff. The head matron tells them their "game of tag" is over, that they have no map or weapons, and that they must obey their teachers/the authority.

She talks mostly to Theo, as assumed leader of the pack, and he feigns agreeing with her. Then he calls to Mabel while signaling to use his hands as a lift up.

Mabel springs into action and gives the head matron a hard kick to the head, leaving Susan as the last staff member there (for now, anyway...).

Susan shows she cares way more about a hefty paycheck than she ever could about those kids. But Mabel's attack also serves as distraction, and Oliver gets behind Susan with a large knife that the staff didn't know he had.

Oliver. Bless him. 😅

Then Theo asks what Susan (and the injured head matron, I guess) think of these "aptitudes" they've cultivated in the top students.

Feeling truly defeated, Susan drops her gun, and Theo sighs with relief.

We start where we left off, with Doll saying "Snake...?" First, Snake answers as himself. Then Emily has him ask what's happened to her. But we return to Snake speaking for himself (I think) when he asks if that's blood. Emily wouldn't need to ask because, as a snake, she can definitely tell exactly what that is.

The head matron just says Doll is sick and receiving treatments for it. Then she suggests they all go upstairs, where they can ask questions while she makes tea. But Theo sees through the BS and calls her out on it.

He clearly sees that the bottle Doll is receiving "treatment" from says Canopus, meaning she must be the Canopus star he overheard them talking about earlier. And he addresses Doll directly.

Doll is sweating, but before she can answer, the head matron notices the jars of organs and demands to know why they are holding them. I guess it's still the head matron saying it must be Theo's idea, saying it's difficult to deal with these kids when they match their aptitudes too well. Especially the Pomeranians, I should think.