Endless Night: The Gathering Storm

We lay in the undergrowth at the side of the car park and watched as the Spider got out his car leaving Purcell looking agitated in the back seat. He stood in the gloom for a few minutes until the beam of another car lit him up as it pulled in beside him. Two dark figures got out and I could see them arguing animatedly but couldn't make out what they were saying. I turned towards Cosgrove to ask if he could hear and got the fright of my life, Cosgrove was gone and in his place was Chick Young - Two Face! 'Hello Spiers,' he squeaked and leapt on me, biting and tearing at me with his fingers. I rolled and tried to throw him from me and out of the corner of my eye I could make out Cosgrove wrestling with someone. Cosgrove turned and in a swirl of his cape hit his assailant a turning side kick in the stomach and sent him flying only for another figure to grab him from behind but Cosgrove was too quick and threw his attacker over his shoulder and stood in a defensive position waiting for the next assault. Tam Cowan and Hugh McDonald, for it was they, got up and approached Cosgrove again, slowly this time then McDonald pissed himself.
'Aw naw,' he groaned, looking down at his trousers and as Cosgrove's attention was diverted, Cowan sprung at him. 'Think you're funnier than me, do you Cosgrove? I'll show you,' snarled Cowan but Cosgrove punched him on the throat and the Joker fell to the ground choking. Meanwhile, I was still trying to stop Chick Young from slapping me around the face like an hysterical schoolgirl. As I struggled with him I heard a rustling from beside me and a head popped out of the bushes - it was Mark Macaskill from the Sunday Times! 'Shhhhhhh!' he said which stopped both Chick Young and me in our tracks.
'Eh?' was all I could manage.
'Shut the f*ck up Spiers, we can't hear a thing in here.'
'We? How many of you are in there?' I asked, goggling at the sudden turn of events.
'Oh just about every journalist in Scotland who isn't in Lawwell's concentration camp or been frozen by Mr Freeze over there. Now shut up, we're trying to work here.' And with that he disappeared back into the bushes.

Cosgrove was right about me, I'm a weirdness magnet. Who else would be lying in shrubbery being attacked by Chick Young while a man dressed as a bat wasted two idiot sports journalists dressed as super villains while all around us hid every other journalist in Scotland watching Willie Haughey argue with two mysterious men over the future of Steven Purcell who sat gibbering in the back of Haughey's car? F*cking weird, eh? Especially the last part.

Then things got worse. I managed to throw Chick Young off me while he was still taken aback by the appearance of Macaskill and I was trying to get back on my feet without being seen when Young grabbed my ankles and refused to let go. Cosgrove had just knocked out the Piddler with a blow to the chin and was fighting off Tam Cowan who was biting his ankles and laughing maniacally. Then when I thought things couldn't get anymore weird, a jeep drew up by the side of the road and out jumped Peter Lawwell carrying a flame thrower.

'Right, who's got f*cking Purcell?' he asked, threateningly. Cosgrove looked up from battering Tam Cowan and realising when he was outgunned, nodded towards the car park. Lawwell strode purposefully towards where the Spider still stood arguing with his mystery friends and as he was passing, let rip a great blast of flame towards the bushes and walked on as several dozen journalists jumped out of them with their arses on fire. The Spider and his friends couldn't fail to notice the flames and the two mystery men bolted for their car leaving the Spider on his own as he stared in anger and astonishment as Lawwell approached waving the flame thrower around and daring anyone to get in his way. 'Putting money before Celtic, eh Haughey?' roared Lawwell and let burst his flames but Haughey produced some strange gun of his own and countered with a blast of freezing ice which deflected the blast.
'I'm not called Mr Freeze for nothing Lawwell and yes, money before Celtic, money before religion, friendship or any other old bollocks. You were useful to me once but I've made enough, I know when to retire; that idiot Purcell has just brought it forward, that's all,' and he let rip with another blast of ice which Lawwell parried with flames from his thrower.
'How could you?' bellowed Lawwell. 'How could you put anything before Celtic? I thought you were one of us, I thought you were the greatest of us! All that time, paying for the election of Celtic minded politicians and paying for the advancement of Celtic minded journalists, that was all just to make money in return?'
'What else could it all be about Lawwell? Unlike you we don't all enjoy power for power's sake.'
Lawwell was almost in tears but he fought on, firing at Haughey and deflecting the icy blasts.
'It's about destroying the huns! That's what it's all about, wiping those bastards off the face of the map! That and nothing else!' he shouted.
'But why?' asked Haughey.
'Because they're bigots!' replied Lawwell without seeing the irony, then he collapsed to the ground and the Spider got in his car and drove off. As he disappeared out the car park I caught just a glimpse of Purcell, looking out of the rear window, tears in his eyes as someone put a black hood over his head and then they were gone.