Surprisingly, the guards pretty much left their prisoners alone. They took each out and knocked them about a bit, leaving some bruises and bloody lips but compared to how the agents had been treated during past incarcerations, the treatment was fairly mild.
Early on the third day, Brown appeared at the bars and ran his baton back and forth on the bars making a horrendous racket. Napoleon woke first and prodded his partner. "Illya, our host is making an appearance. Wake up."
"Wakey, wakey UNCLE trash. Today is a special day." Brown stood before the agents gloating. Standing next to him was the Ridenours' little girl, Lucinda, who was scared and had obviously been crying. Her long brown hair was matted and her dress was torn at the shoulder seams.
Napoleon glanced at her and opened his mouth to comment when Illya beat him to it. He rushed to the front of the cell grabbing the bars, his voice low and the anger he felt was evident, "You said you would let her go, Brown! Why is she not back with her parents? You must be a big and powerful man to hide behind the skirts of a little girl."
Before Brown could reply, one of the guards smashed his rifle against the Russian's right hand causing him to yelp in pain and withdraw his hand.
"No!" Brown shouted as he turned and hit the guard. "So help me, if you have hurt that bastard's hand to the point I can't carry out my plan I will have you shot!" Kuryakin retreated holding his right hand against his chest.
Brown pushed the guard away and took a few deep breaths to compose himself. When he had his anger under control he turned back to the UNCLE agents and smiled sweetly.
"You see, that's why we're here. I plan to return this sweet angel to her parents today. And, one of you will accompany her to make sure she gets back safely.
"What are you up to?" Napoleon asked. "You mean you are just going to let one of us free, no strings attached? I find that hard to believe."
"Oh that is exactly what I mean, Mr. Solo. But one of you has to earn that right and that is where the fun begins." He laughed. "There's going to be a competition. You, two, are the players. Whoever wins escorts the child back to her parents and goes scott free."
"And the loser? What happens to the loser of this so called competition?"
"Oh, whichever one of you loses will be transported to THRUSH Central as our VIP guest where we will wine and dine you before sending you to our top interrogation team. Once we are able to extract the information we want then we will execute you and THRUSH will be rid of one of UNCLE's top agents.
Napoleon and Illya looked at each other. "And what sort of competition do you have in mind?" Kuryakin asked.
"Oh I think that I'll keep that a surprise for now," he cackled. "Suffice it to say that you will be squaring off against each other and there will be dire consequences for the loser."
"If you think we're going to compete against each other, you are sadly mistaken," Solo said.
"Oh, I believe you will," Brown replied. He quickly grabbed Lucinda and pointed a pistol at her head. "Indeed you will or not only will I execute you both but this little girl as well. And I don't think either of you want that to happen!" He looked to see the reaction of the agents and was rewarded with their looks of alarm and disgust. With that, Brown turned on his heel and left the area while the guards followed behind with Lucinda.