AN: Greetings readers. Welcome to my story.

I've always really liked the steampunk genre. So when my friend told me about her plans for a steampunk SNK AU, I was of course all for the idea. But then she sent me the plot structure.

I really liked it, but it wasn't my style. For one it was Eren x Fem!Levi. I hate genderbends. Like with a burning passion. *coughs*unlessitsjohannathemad*coughs* So I said, "guuuurrrl I wanna write this too tho" and she said "well you can" and I was like "rly" and she was like "rly" and so now we're writing mirrored versions of the same basic plot structure! And credit goes to her for the steampunk idea, the title, Eren's past (for the most part), and the Iron Titan. The rest is mine. I hope you enjoy~~~~

Btdubs, the link to her story is www. archiveofourown works/2398178/chapters/5301515 (without the spaces of course)

I highly recommend it.

Chapter 1: Parchment and Parched Men

Thirsty. So... thirsty. Need water.

Eren opened his mouth to ask the brown-haired passerby for a drink, but his dry throat emitted nothing but a desperate rasp. The brunette shuffled by, pretending not to notice.

Water. Need water.

Eren groaned, just as raspy, and rubbed his throat. He coughed, sending just enough moisture up his throat to mumble a swear.

"God damn it..." he rasped. Hadn't he had enough bad luck in life? His family and friends murdered, being rejected from the military, the only way he could possibly avenge them. And now he was living like a street rat, as a street rat. For three weeks now, he had been surviving, barely, off of scraps and rainwater. He was fourteen, but had the body of a malnourished ten year old. Of course, this was part of the reason he was rejected.

He saw another brunette walking down the alleyway, straight towards him. She was well dressed, with a poofy red dress down to her ankles, laced with what appeared to be white satin bows and a matching corset. She toted an umbrella, though it hadn't rained for three days. And her messy, most likely unbrushed brown hair was pulled carelessly back into an overflowing mess of brown by a single black clip and a pair of large square glasses pinning a couple tangled locks behind her ears.

Eren watched as she got closer, not feeling strong or motivated enough to beg for water. It hadn't worked all day, why would it work now?

But, to his surprise, the lady gasped and lifted the skirt of her dress to dash over to where he sat propped up against the brick wall. "Oh god, you poor thing! You must be parched!"

He swallowed, his mouth beginning to water at the sight of her pulling out a brown leather canteen and twisting the top open quickly. He opened his mouth as she poured it down his throat. The cool, usually tasteless liquid adapted an almost sweet, savory flavor as it ran across his palate, and he found himself grabbing the container and pouring the rest of the heavenly substance down his throat. Though he realized it must have been very rude, he couldn't help it. He hadn't had fresh water in four years.

"What's your name? Do you have a home?" The woman asked, a hand on her cheek with a concerned stare catching Eren's attention once the water was all gone. He shook his head.

"I am Eren. I got nowhere." He said. Grammar hadn't really been a concern of his since he became homeless and broke. The woman didn't seem to notice, that or she didn't mind.

"My name is Hanji Zoe. Come with me, I'll give you somewhere." She smiled, taking his hand and helping him up. She assisted him in limping down the street and through a narrow alleyway, stopping at a sewer cap at the end.

"Give me a sec," She said, dropping the umbrella along with his arm. He watched curiously as she lifted the skirt of her dress once more to stomp on the round metal disk seven times. Eren blinked. This woman was crazy.

But before he could snatch her pocketbook and run, the sewer cap sank lower into the ground and shakily slid to the side with a loud continuos cranking noise, stopping only to reveal a rusted ladder leading down into the dark hole.

"What the-"

"Just go down the ladder, I promise you won't regret it." She said, ushering him towards the hole. He shook his head.

"Uh, n-no thanks, I'm not really a big fan of dark, ominous holes..." he said, leaning back onto her hands so his feet skid on the ground. It would've been painful, if four years without shoes hadn't given him almost bulletproof callouses. Eventually he gave in and scrambled down the ladder. He had expected a sewer, but instead he found a dark room, lit only by a single lantern hanging on the furthest wall, with what appeared like an old rickety elevator in the corner.

"Just wait there for me," Haji called from outside, hopping down in the hole. But her skirt frame was too big, so only her legs made it through. Eren blushed a bit at the sight of her knee-length bloomers as she kicked around. After a bit of struggle, she stopped kicking and began to mutter unintelligibly. Then, suddenly she dropped down through the dress, as she had just untied her corset and allowed herself to fall through it.

Eren blinked, staring at what looked like the top half of a pair of old, oil-stained overalls. He had though at first that this woman was of the upper class, based on her attire, but now he had no idea what to think as she ripped the silk bloomers off her legs and yanked the dress down with her. It collapsed on itself and fell into her arms, now that there was nobody in it.

"Sorry about that. Into the elevator you go." She said, shooing him towards the fenced door and sliding it open, now clad in, as Eren had inspected, a pair of old, oil-stained overalls atop an old, oil-stained white tank top. At least now her hair matched her attire.

"Umm, where are we going?" Eren asked as the elevator door slid closed again. Hanji smiled at him and pulled a wall-mounted lever, causing the elevator to lurch to a slow, unstable decent. "It's a little hard to explain. But you'll see when we get there." She said.

It grew dark in the small cramped space, until they passed by another lantern. The light left with it until they passed another, and then another. It went on like this until they reached the bottom.

"Here we are," Hanji said with an ear-wide grin, opening the elevator door. Eren's jaw dropped. Had he been living over this his entire life?

The interior of the room was massive, a huge copper dome with large suspended lighting systems. Various overall-clad men and women ran around, shouting orders and waving wrenches, screwdrivers, and other various appliances as others worked fixedly on various machines and metal structures. Over the sounds of shouting and talking and laughing were the distant, ever-present clanking noise that Eren imagined were made by large gears and cranks, but this was just the thought that came to him as he examined the large space with wide, awed eyes. There were robots, metal wings, even a section that appeared to house solely the creation and maintenance of 3-D Maneuver Gear. There were kitchen appliances, entertainment systems, people using tools to build new and improved tools. Mechanical arms, legs, fingers and eyeballs. There was even a metal swing set in one corner. Everything was either bronze, silver, or gold, and everyone was covered in bruises and oil splatters. The space gave off a warm auburn atmosphere. It was amazing.

"What place is this?" Eren said, awestruck as he slowly followed Hanji out of the elevator. Hanji laughed at his adorable expression and pulled him aside and towards a long hallway with doors on either side, like a hotel floor.

"You're in the Underground, kid. This is where everything in the kingdom that needs a wrench to fix was created." She told him. He looked up at her, still not quite able to believe it.

"But... how is something so...?"

"Where did you think 3DMG came from, kid?"

"Wow..."

"That was the Steam Room, where all the ideas we come up with here are built. You're on your way to see Erwin, the guy in charge. He was the genius behind the whole project. He'll give you a place to stay and maybe even a job if you qualify." She said as they arrived to a large set of metal double doors, with a gear for a handle.

Hanji knocked seven times. "Oi, Erwin. I got some fresh meat for ya." She said with a toothy grin. Eren gulped.

"Send him in. Then go report to Pixis with the details from your assignment." A deep, brassy voice replied. She nodded and turned the gear-knob, pushing the doors open and Eren inside.

"Good afternoon." A tall blonde man with thin blue eyes and his hair slicked back greeted him as the doors shut behind him. Eren swallowed.

"Hi. Umm... are you...?"

"Erwin Smith. Nice to meet you." The man stood from his chair and extended his hand over his polished wooden desk with a small smile. Eren took a timid step forward to shake it.

"Eren Jaeger. Umm, nice... to uh, meet you. Too." Eren suddenly began to feel nervous. Though he didn't know why. He wasn't being tested, wasn't being put on the spot. It was Erwin, and the judgmental aura he emitted.

"I'm guessing Hanji picked you off the street?" Erwin asked. Eren nodded, eyes still wide. Erwin chuckled and sat back down.

"You look like a deer who's spotted a lantern, Eren. Please relax. I'm just here to determine your job." Erwin said with a kind smile. Eren froze. Job? He'd never had a job before. He could never get one, no matter how many times he applied.

"Housing will be provided, don't fret." Erwin continued. "Do you have any special skills or interests?"

Eren shrugged. "Umm, I like machines, I guess." He said. The idea of gathering a pile of scrap metal and using it to create something able to function on its own had always fascinated him.

Erwin nodded. "Then we'll start you as an engineer tomorrow. I'll send a boy named Marco to fetch you in the morning. He'll tell you the rest from there." Erwin said, standing and turning around to look through a shelf on the bookcase behind him.

"B-but sir, I don't know nothin' about machines." Eren said, watching. Erwin shook his head and turned back around, holding out a single copper key. "Doesn't matter. Everyone has to learn eventually, right?" Erwin tossed the key to the frail brunette, who scrambled to catch it. He did, but just barely.

"Y-yes, sir"

Eren closely examined the key he held. It was copper, with a round base and a jagged edge. The number "33A" was printed in what looked like black paint, just below a small hole. Probably for a keychain or something.

He looked at the many levels of floors listed on the elevator. There were five floors, and Hanji had told him that he was in room three on the third floor in the A wing. According to her, A wing was boys only, B wing was girls only. Neither gender was allowed in the opposite wing, so Hanji couldn't escort him. He pressed the three button and braced himself against the railing as the small compartment began to descend. So third floor meant third floor down, he thought. He guessed that since they were below ground, floor listings worked opposite of usual.

When he finally arrived at room three, he stepped out of the elevator slowly and cautiously. He found himself at the end of a long, narrow hallway with dark green carpet floors and lanterns between every third door on the right. He walked down the narrow hallway to find that odd numbers were on the left, even on the right. He stopped in front of room three and took a deep breath. This was his first home in four years. He prayed it would remain so for a long time.

He unlocked and opened the door to a dark, metal interior. There was a bed (that looked extremely uncomfortable) in the farthest corner, and beside it a small metal table with a single lantern and what looked like an alarm clock. There was also a large mirror on the wall to the right of him, and a wooden table that stretched the length of it just below. Lastly, a tall metal closet in the corner to the left of him, whose doors hung open to reveal four empty metal shelves except for a single pair of neatly folded overalls on the third. Despite these shabby conditions, he smiled.

He was finally home.

AN: Do you like it? I think I was a bit over-descriptive. But the thing I have the most problems with writing is always describing rooms and buildings and stuff like that. I tried my best to 'paint a picture in the reader's mind,' but I'm not sure if I did a good job or not.

You know what's weird to think about? How the way I imagine the setting of this story, like Eren's room or Erwin's office or the Steam Room, is most likely different from how you guys imagine it? Almost always you'll imagine it like somewhere you've been before. I read that in an article in a magazine once. Also, try thinking about something that no one else on the planet is thinking at this moment. Right now. Yup. I'm fucking with your mind.

I think about this stuff all the time. It's just weird to think about, you know? Anyway, I'll stop rambling and annoying you now.

Don't forget to check out the other version of this story!

www. archiveofourown works/2398178/chapters/5301515

(the .org isn't working but you all should know the way to get to archive of our own)

Drop a review on your way out~~

Later, losers!

-TRG