Henchmen

In a world in which secret agents and super villains duke it out on a day-to-day basis, Mike Mackie spends his workdays as a henchman under the villainous Demetrius Lyons (aka the Lion). After Mike celebrates his tenth year, his buddy in crime, Wes Gast, discovers that average henchman life expectancies have dropped and that Mike is now ten years over his expiration date.

This news sends Mike into a panicked campaign for reform. After Lyons denies pleas for improved henchman rights, Mike starts a union to get the supervillain's attention. A lovely agent from Lyons's intelligence department, Nina Summers, joins Mike as he and the union claw and fight for their rights. They gain heavy support through protests, propaganda videos produced by local filmmaker, Stephen, and sheer dumb luck.

With momentum swinging in the union's favor, Lyons offers Mike a promotion to sergeant. In exchange, Mike will disband his union. In a subsequent union meeting, Mike burns the offer letter and then leads hundreds of henchmen onto Lyons's doorstep in their largest protest yet. Lyons finally promises fair negotiation. However after Mike and his henchmen inadvertently blow up Lyons's favorite bar, the supervillain decides enough is enough and sets up an ambush for Mike and the union.

The ambush hospitalizes Wes and severely cuts the union numbers. It looks as though Mike and his crew are finished, but when the rest of the henchmen catch wind of Lyons's cruel ambush, they rally to Mike's side. Now armed with a thousand henchmen, Mike leads the rebellion in a final battle against Lyons. An ocean of henchmen storm headquarters and breach the building through force of numbers. Lyons escapes and Mike pursues him in a high speed chase through the city, ending in a dramatic collision that leaves both of them dazed. Mike defeats Lyons in a brutal gunfight and finally releases himself and his henchmen from Lyons's grasp.

Finally free, the union takes the company in a new direction, free from tyranny and low life expectancies. A year later, the company is henchman owned, Mike and Nina are together, and Stephen wins the local film competition for best documentary.

Script of the Month:

Silver Medal: February 2012

Weekly Top Ten List:

Weeks on Chart: 13
Peak Position: #2 (May 27, 2013)