The occupants of the room stared at each other for a brief moment in silence before Tony exclaimed, "What. Was. That."
"Absolutely no idea." Natasha and Steve replied, shrugging.
"It could quite possibly be the Game Master." Bruce suggested, placing his hand on his chin in thought.
The hum resonated through the room once more, before the voice cut it off.
"Hooray! Dr. Banner wins a prize! And that prize is the clue on how to escape this room. And on an unrelated note, Agent Barton and Mr. Odinson say 'hi'."
As soon as it came, the voice disappeared, leaving the room in silence for the second time.
This time, however, Natasha was the first to speak. "They have Clint and Thor?" She asked, looking menacingly up at the ceiling.
"Yeah. And we're gonna be stuck here until we figure our way out. Which, as Tony so eloquently demonstrated, won't be easy." Bruce sighed. Tony decided to dignify that response with a death glare while Steve started making a cast for Tony's hand out of some wood planks, nails and cloth that had randomly appeared out of nowhere. Steve didn't question it; he assumed that the Game Master sent it to be helpful.
"So, what's our clue?" Natasha asked, looking back up at the ceiling. Bruce looked around the room. On one of the walls was a screen. He walked over to it, inspecting every detail there was.
"Um, there's a screen over here." He called over to the others. Tony and Natasha walked over, while Steve was checking the other walls for anything out of the ordinary.
Steve ran his fingers over the wall, feeling for a secret panel of some sort. His fingers glided across a keyboard. He snapped out of his thoughts, staring at the keyboard and the boxes above it. There were twelve spaces in total, with two black boxes for what he assumed were spaces, and ten white boxes for letters.
Meanwhile, Bruce and Tony were figuring out what the screen was for, while Natasha was still staring at the ceiling, as if waiting for something to drop down. Sure enough, a panel opened up and a small, white, cardboard box fell from the ceiling. Instinctively, she caught it, turning it over as the ceiling sealed itself.
"Hey, I have a box." She called to the boys, opening it carefully. Inside it was a card, much like the keycards that they used at SHIELD. It was green and gold, with a singular black strip on the back, where the code was sure to be found. On the front was a peculiar picture of a creature with banana-like arms, connected legs, rounded feet where the ankles should have been, an antenna with a floating orb of some sort on the end, and a small, somewhat sad expression. Letters lined the top of the card, spelling out, 'Game Master'.
The boys found their ways over to her, looking over her shoulder at the card. Tony made a noncommittal noise as Natasha tried to hand it to him. When she gave him a look, he answered, "I don't like being handed things." With that, she slapped him upside the head and gave the card to Bruce.
A metaphorical lightbulb once again found itself over the scientist's head as he walked back over to the screen. There was a now visible slot in the left side of the frame. Bruce swiped the card through the slot and waited for a reaction.
"If this makes Loki show up again, I swear I'll go insane." Tony grumbled, leaving Steve and Natasha very confused. They looked at each other and shrugged. Bruce just sighed and directed his attention back to the screen. The screen lay still for a fleeting moment before it flickered to life. It displayed a circular line, moving like the absence of sound on a spectrogram. After a minute or two of silence, Steve opened his mouth to say something, but the screen beat him to the punch.
"Greetings, Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, Agent Romanoff and Captain Rogers. I am the Game Master. Pleasure to meet you. As per the previous discovery made by Dr. Banner, I have given you all a clue on how to escape this room. Following this statement I will play a tape recording in my possession, and it is your task to figure it out. Once you have the answer, one of the new occupants, either Agent Romanoff or Captain Rogers, will type it into the lock mechanism that Capt. Rogers discovered previously to my opening of the ceiling. Do not worry, I will not attempt to harm you in any way in any of the rooms. Unfortunately, Mr. Stark has already done so by ingeniously breaking his hand."
The machine was silent for a moment as if to say, "Shouldn't've done that, huh, genius?" Tony made a face at it as it started to speak once more.
"Now if you'd kindly stop making faces at my screen, that would be great. Thanks. As I said before, after this message is the clue for the phrase that will lead you into the next room." A scuffle was heard, as was muffled shouting. "Oh, and before I play the recording, Agent Barton and Mr. Odinson would like to say a few words."
Footsteps sounded from the screen as the four listening assumed Clint and Thor were walking over to wherever the microphone was.
"Hey, Tash, it's Clint. Just wanted to tell you we're both safe and that we're being treated well. I'm not being forced to say this, by the way. Hope we can meet up soon. I'll ask about it once the clue's been played."
The microphone was handed over to someone else, and Thor's booming voice vibrated the screen ever-so-slightly.
"HELLO FRIENDS! BROTHER CLINTON AND I ARE WELL. DO NOT WORRY, WE HAVE BEEN ASSURED THAT NO HARM WILL COME TO US HERE. ALSO, THE FOOD IS VERY SATISFYING."
A muffled "Thank you!" was heard from somewhere far from Thor and the microphone. Bruce, Natasha and Steve assumed that it was the Game Master, and Tony still thought that Loki was behind everything. Footsteps echoed through the microphone and the Game Master spoke again.
"So, your clue. I think it's time for that. The clue is directed to Captain Rogers, not Dr. Banner as I previously stated. Sorry for any confusion I may or may not have caused."
Bruce, Tony, and Natasha looked over to Steve, who blinked. His head moved from side to side, looking around before pointing to himself, as if to say "Who, me?"
"Yes, you, Captain. This clue is for you." The Game Master sighed. "Anywho, here's your clue. Until next time, Avengers. Good day and good luck."
There was a crackling noise, before a familiar voice was heard.
"I GET IT ALREADY!" Sam yelled, and Steve snorted, laughing. The others looked at him with confused faces.
"I know what that is. How could I not?" Steve asked, smiling. The recording ended and the screen shut off.
Steve walked over to the keypad on the other side of the room, his companions following. His fingers hit the keys slowly, as he had to look for each letter. When he finished, the letters read ON YOUR LEFT. Steve smiled as he hit the ENTER key, unlocking the door. When the others went to look, the letters had vanished.
"Well, Capsicle? What did it say?" Tony asked.
Steve smiled. "On your left."
And with that, the Avengers went through the door.
Meanwhile, in another place, Sam Wilson sneezed. He rubbed at his nose as Rhodey asked, "Dude, you have a cold?"
"No." Sam replied. "Rogers just said the cursed phrase."
"What are you talking about?"
"Shut up, Rhodes."