74. Harding vs Tyler IV: The Marion Star

“…Déjà vu?” Tyler repeated Harding’s words between gasps of air, his eyes locked onto his opponent’s smiling face.

Slowly, Tyler calmed his breathing as a thin smirk spread across his lips.

“Now, Harding,” Tyler mused, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing at the blood from his injured chest. “Don’t you think it’s a tad unfair for you to rewind time on me whenever I gain the upper hand against you?”

Harding let out a good-natured snort.

“Well, shucks! I was hoping to give you just a tiny, itty-bitty hint with my `Déjà vu’ line there, but it seems you’ve gone and solved the whole game!”

Harding plopped her morning star onto the ground.

“Just like you said, my Executive Power: Return to Normalcy gives me the ability to rewind time…” she tapped a finger to her uninjured chest, “…allowing me to undo that pesky wound you gave me at the start.”

Tyler shook his head.

“You really are an open book, aren’t you?” he replied with a smirk. “Honestly, I can’t begin to comprehend how someone as simple and unwitting as yourself could find yourself at the head of one of the most notorious gangs in the nation! Pray, would you do me the honor of telling me how such an unimaginable event came into fruition?”

“Oh, that?” Harding replied with a quiet smile. “It’s a bit of a story actually…”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Several years ago, a group of gangsters marched into the little town of Marion, Ohio.

“You!” the group’s leader shouted at a passerby, then shoved a photograph into the startled man’s hands. “Do you know who this is?”

The man adjusted his glasses, then put on a wide smile as he took in the image of the person in question.

“Of course! That’s Wanda Harding; she’s the editor of the local newspaper.” He pointed to a large building behind him. “Her office is over yonder.”

The gangsters nodded, then made their way to the building.

“…sorry gentleman,” the secretary apologized to the gangsters after they explained their situation, “but Harding’s left early today to help at the local soup kitchen.”

The gangsters nodded, making their way to their newest destination.

“…Harding came by earlier,” the cook at the soup kitchen told the group. “But she needed to head off to attend a meeting for the small business owners.”

The gangsters clenched their fists, then went out once again.

“…she was here,” a business owner remarked, “but the local baseball team swung by looking for a sub, and Harding couldn’t help but lend a hand.”

“Jesus!” one of gangsters exclaimed. “How many places can one woman be in a town so small?”

And so, the group headed off to the baseball diamond just as a ball shot across the sky.

“Amazing!” the announcer shouted into his mic, “That’s yet another home run from Wanda Harding!”

A young Harding waved to the cheering crowd as she ran her lap. She paused for a moment as she spotted the mobsters staring at her from across the field, then put on a sly smile as she covertly pointed to an abandoned speakeasy across the way.

The group nodded, then made their way inside, watching and waiting as the game came to a close.

“Sorry ‘bout the wait, fellas,” Harding exclaimed as she stepped into the speakeasy, sweat dripping down her forehead. “I would have come sooner, but golly, there were just too many friends I needed to say howdy to!”

The gangsters maintained their silence as they looked Harding over with a puff of their smokey cigars.

“Anywhos,” Harding continued, swiping away at the smoke filling the room, “what bring you fine folks to Marion?”

Two of the gangsters stepped to the side as their boss moved in front of them.

“We’re members of The Ohio Gang,” he explained. “A name you ought to be familiar with.”

“The Ohio Gang you say?” Harding rubbed her chin. “Yes, I think I had a run in with some of your goons just the other day.”

“Hmph, `goons’ you say,” the boss shook his head, “…Wood and Lowden were the best damn soldiers we had, and you wiped the floor with them in a matter of minutes.”

“Well, gentleman,” Harding replied with a chuckle, “if those two were your best, then I’d suggest looking for a few new hires!”

“That’s what we’re here for.”

The man, took out his cigarette, pointing to Harding as their smoke continued filling the room.

“We want you to head our Party.”

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Thanks to blossommm on Scribblehub whose comment triggered me to post this as a bonus chapter for the week.

Harding’s Flashback I. Most of this didn’t happen as written but is based off of various real world events. For example, Warren Harding was very involved in his little town of Marion (performing all of the services depicted here at some point or another).

Warren wasn’t really recruited into politics in the way depicted here (though there is a bit of a myth of political elites picking him as their Presidential nominee in a proverbial “smoke filled room”), and as mentioned around Callie Coolidge’s fight, The Ohio Gang was in reality the name for a group of political friends of Warren Harding after he became President and not an organization that formally existed before that point.