"Josh, why are you looking for me so late?" About half an hour later, Mar-Vell was invited into Josh's study.
"It's nothing too serious. I just have a friend who needs a ride." Josh got straight to the point.
"A ride? What do you mean?" Mar-Vell frowned immediately.
"Exactly what you're thinking. He wants to take your ship and leave Earth. If possible, drop him off somewhere neutral—like Nova or Nowhere, anywhere works." Josh shrugged.
"Josh, I've told you many times..." Mar-Vell said impatiently.
"Don't be in such a hurry to refuse, Mar-Vell. My friend is different. You don't have to treat him like an human. He doesn't represent Earth, and he certainly doesn't represent humanity." Josh held up a hand to stop her. "And I'll even tell you a big secret as payment for taking him with you."
"A secret? Come on, Josh. I'm not interested in Earth's secrets." Mar-Vell scoffed.
"You're right, Earth's secrets mean nothing to you. But what if this secret has to do with the Kree Empire?" Josh said with a smile.
"Related to us? That's impossible." Mar-Vell frowned.
"Nothing is impossible. If I'm not mistaken, the official records of your Empire definitely have some information about Earth. It may not be detailed, but it exists, right?" Josh asked.
"Yes, Earth is on the star charts. Specifically, it's listed as planet C-53, although there's little information on it." Mar-Vell nodded. That was a fact.
"Then you should understand—if Earth is in your records, it means only one thing; the Kree have been here before, haven't they?" Josh smiled.
"True, but... the last update of Earth on our star charts was over five thousand years ago... Are you saying your secret is from then?" Mar-Vell looked doubtful.
Josh shrugged without answering.
"...Fine, I'll agree—as long as your secret is valuable enough!" After a moment's hesitation, Mar-Vell gritted her teeth and nodded.
After all, giving someone a ride wasn't a big deal.
"There's a city on the moon." Josh said.
"That's impossible. I scanned Earth when I arrived - there were no signs of life or man-made structures... Wait, are you saying it's a Kree city?" Mar-Vell had been sure at first, but then realisation struck.
If it were human technology, the city would have been detected. Kree scanning technology wouldn't miss it.
But if the city itself was Kree...
Mar-Vell's own ship had cloaking technology. If the moon city was built by the Kree, it might have similar cloaking technology, making it undetectable.
"But that doesn't make sense. It's been over five thousand years—how is it still operational? And how do you even know about it?" Mar-Vell couldn't figure it out.
"How I know isn't important. What matters is that this city was once an Inhuman outpost. And the reason it's still active is that a group of humans live there. They're not Kree, and they're not exactly human either. They are mutants created by Kree genetic experimentation."
Josh was, of course, talking about Attilan—the Inhuman city on the Moon.
In the comics, Attilan was a mobile city built by the Inhumans using Kree technology.
But in the MCU version, Attilan was originally a Kree research outpost, later taken over and modified by the Inhumans after they drove the Kree out.
Whatever the version, one thing was certain; Attilan's technology was based on Kree technology.
And if you're wondering why a powerful empire like the Kree would be driven out by their own experiments—
Well, in MCU lore, it wasn't the Kree High Command that conducted the genetic experiments on Earth, but a small group of radicals.
When the Kree leadership found out, they shut down the project and captured most of the Inhumans. Eventually, only two Kree operatives remained in the solar system... so the Inhumans, led by Hive, managed to drive them out.
And those two Kree? They probably never made it back home.
The idea of being part of the same race depends on mutual recognition.
For Inhumans like Jiaying, who grew up on Earth, Josh was willing to accept them. Most of them also saw themselves as human.
But for the Inhumans of Attilan, it wasn't about whether Earth's humans accepted them—it was about whether they even considered themselves part of the same race.
Biologically, they shared the same origins as humans, with only a little alien genetic modification.
But because they were originally Kree experiments, their civilization began thousands of years before normal humans. With their genetic advantages, they always saw themselves as superior and refused to associate with humanity.
That's why they chose to isolate themselves on Attilan rather than have any connection with Earth.
Had they ever recognised themselves as human, even by conquering Earth, human civilization might have reached the stars thousands of years ago.
And in times of crisis, have the Inhumans ever helped Earth? Not once.
It wasn't until Black Bolt's era, when Attilan was destroyed, that they were forced to reintegrate into human society (A/N: as seen in the Inhumans TV series finale).
At the time, Black Bolt probably hadn't even been born yet (A/N: he was born in 1982).
Therefore, Josh had no hesitation in betraying the Inhumans. He also wasn't sure if the Kree leadership would be interested in this information. After all, it was their project that they abandoned thousands of years ago. The chances that they would suddenly be interested now were slim.
If they were interested, they'd probably just send a strike team to wipe out Attilan instead of targeting Earth itself. And if they did, Josh wouldn't worry.
After all, Attilan wasn't under the protection of the Ancient One or the Asgard.
But Earth? If the Kree tried anything, they'd have a problem.
In Captain Marvel, the Ancient One didn't interfere because she knew Carol Danvers was there, so her involvement wasn't necessary.
But if there was no Captain Marvel, Josh doubted she'd just stand by and do nothing.
In the mirror dimension, a certain bald woman who loved to spy watched Josh betray Attilan without a second thought. Her face was one of disbelief.
Even though this man was the future of her universe, his ruthless capitalist mindset made him more of a bloodsucker than a vampire. She wasn't sure it was the right decision to place her hopes in him.
Mar-Vell, on the other hand, didn't think about all these complexities. Learning this secret made her restless—she couldn't wait to go to the Moon and see for herself.
"Prepare a plane to take me back to New Mexico at once! I must go to the Moon and verify this. If it's true, I'll agree to your deal!" Mar-Vell declared without hesitation.
Her shuttle was hidden in New Mexico and her spaceship was cloaked in Earth's orbit. She would have to return to New Mexico before she could get to her ship.
As for flying into space with just her body? Even Thanos couldn't do that.
Sure, he was physically strong enough to fight his way across the universe, but like Groudon in Pokémon, MCU Thanos couldn't actually fly.
And he wasn't the only one. Thor, without his hammer or axe, couldn't fly either—he just had an impressive jump.
"No problem, I'll arrange it. But be careful—don't let the people in Attilan notice you." Josh picked up the phone while giving a warning.
"Don't worry, it won't happen." Mar-Vell shook his head.
As an elite Kree warrior, she was familiar with Kree technology.
She hadn't discovered Attilan before because she hadn't expected Kree technology to be there.
But now that she knew, she had many ways to investigate without exposing herself.
(End of chapter)