Chapter 17: The Boomtown of the Broken Down

The trio finally reaches Rush Valley, where Winry marvels at the crowd of automail workshops crammed along the streets and explains, to her far less enthusiastic companions, that the Ishvalan war and the fighting since drove a boom in the prosthetics trade centered on this town. Edward's unusual limbs quickly make him the target of the town's eager craftsmen, and in the swarm his State Alchemist watch disappears. Asking around, the group learns the likely culprit is a local thief named Paninya, and that she tends to unload her hauls at the Glotz Pawn Shop on the town's west side.

At the pawnshop, Paninya tries to sell the watch, but the owner points out that its lid is stuck fast and the gears seem frozen. Before she can wind it, Ed and Al burst in to confront her, and she bolts through a window. The brothers chase her over rooftops and through back alleys, unable to pin down her remarkable agility. Edward finally uses alchemy to herd her toward Al and Winry, and Alphonse springs a prepared array to trap her inside a large iron cage. With one sweep of her leg, Paninya slices several bars away, revealing that her automail shin conceals a hidden carbon blade. She then exposes a small grenade launcher built into her other knee and fires it to break free. Her escape is halted only by Winry, who refuses to release the thief unless she is allowed to inspect the impressive automail firsthand.

The group arrives in Rush Valley, and Paninya steals Edward's State Alchemist pocket watch amid the crowd of automail enthusiasts. A rooftop pursuit ends when Alphonse cages her, only for her to cut free and reveal that her legs hide a concealed blade and a grenade launcher. Winry stops her escape, bargaining for a look at the weaponized prosthetics rather than the watch.

The Rich Couple appear for the first time here. The automail arm displayed in Gods Studio's window is built for a left arm, so it would not fit Edward. A stand outside one of the shops shows Bald and Genz Bresslau. Although the Viz edition calls Paninya's favored pawnshop Glotz, the sign above the door reads Glatz. This is also the earliest chapter to show alchemy being used to weaken a material rather than reshape it.