Background

By the time she was 16 the teasing had stopped. Suddenly, those same boys who had harassed her mercilessly wanted to be seen with her. It helped that in seven years Cassandra had gone from a thin school girl with straight-as-a-ruler black hair to a stunning young woman. The hair was still straight as a poker, but it was thick and jet black. Combined with olive-tinged complexion, green eyes and a no-longer thin frame, Cassandra was turning heads. But perhaps her greatest asset was her smile. Cassandra had one of those smiles that just invites a person into her life and makes you feel like an old friend even if you just met her.

While the boys were now pursuing her instead of teasing her, Cassandra wanted little to do with them. Her early years taught her about the unreliability of people's affections. One minute you were "out," the next you were "in." Instead, she immersed herself into books. At least books didn't judge you. Already well-versed in American history, Cassandra went through a phase of enchantment with anything Greek. After all, her parents Jocasta and Mikos, were both the first generation born in America. Mikos' mother, grand mama Charis Papadopolis still remembered the old country. When she was a little girl she had lived on Crete. She liked to regale her grandchildren with stories about her youth. Cassandra loved these stories, but she was more interested in learning about the history and culture of ancient Greece then where her grandmother went for pomegranates. This fascination with Greek history eventually led to Cassandra's disappointment with her first name. Papadopolis was bad, but her mom had little choice. Love doesn't recognize unpronounceable last names. And Jocasta did love Mikos. Jocasta did have a choice about her youngest daughter first name. Cassandra hated that her name was the same as the doomed prophetess of Troy. Her two older brothers were named after Greek heroes, Odysseus and Jason. Her older sister was named Helen. Cassandra just didn't understand why she couldn't get a normal name so she adopted, much to her mother's disappointment, the nickname Cassie.

"It sounds like Lassie,' her mother said in a perturbed tone.

"Or Ass," piped up her brother Jason. His outburst promptly got a shush from his mother.

Despite her mother's pleading Cassandra would only respond to Cassie and the family was forced to call her that.

"It was like I was ordained from the day I was born to bring strife to the family," she would later tell her fiancee at a particularly difficult point in her life.

Cassandra wasn't your typical spoiled youngest child. To start with, her parents really couldn't afford to have a fourth child when she came along. Cassandra settled for casts-off clothes and toys of her sisters and brothers. It didn't help that she was bookish where her brothers were athletes and her sister was mainly interested in getting married and raising her own family. If she didn't get teased enough at school, she got another helping from her siblings.

By the time Cassandra graduated from high school and won a full-ride scholarship to U.C. Berkeley, she couldn't wait to get away. Her family was shocked when she decided to accept the scholarship and leave her family and friends to move across the country.

For Cassandra there was never any other choice. She was tired of always being the family's baby, teased, cajoled and always being told what to do. This was her chance to escape her family, Brooklyn and see the world.

But, Cassandra's grandmother had the last word on the subject. If Cassandra was going to travel across the country to attend some "school," she was going to stay with family. So Cassandra was dutifully shipped of to stay with Uncle Alex - short for Alexandros - in San Francisco.

Cassandra dreaded every minute of her flight between the East and West Coast. She was crammed in third class on a red eye flight, the only one she could afford on her meager earnings from a $3.75-an-hour summer job. All she could see looming in front of her was four more years of the family watching over her.

It turned out that Cassandra shouldn't have worried.

Uncle Alex was nothing like the rest of the family. The 5' 6", slightly rotund Uncle Alex had an infectious sense of humor. His niece quickly learned that he always found a way to look at the positive side of a situation and he is a devilish practical joker. That fact was introduced to her on her first night at his home in the Marina district. Cassandra awoke to Alex yelling "Earthquake!" and everything rattling on the shelf. Having never experienced an earthquake, Cassandra bolted out of bed running pell mell out the front door. Once outside and being stared at by even the street people, Cassandra realized the ground wasn't shaking. She turned around to see her uncle practically rolling on the ground in laughter. At first Cassandra was mad, but looking at her Uncle - all 5'6" and 200 pounds of him shaking with laughter and his bright black eyes dancing - she couldn't help but laugh. That was the first of a long serious of practical jokes the two played on each other during her four years in college.

Cassandra's personality was really molded during these years. Away from her family she tried every new experience she could. Her Uncle cared for her deeply, having no children of his own, but he also recognized that she needed room to grow. His only requirement was that she keep herself safe and that she be home every Sunday evening for dinner with him. This tended not to be a problem because Uncle Alex was an excellent cook. No one wanted to miss dinner if he was cooking. His cooking talent made sense. Uncle Alex made his money through a chain of restaurants that he owned called Bachaus Revels.

By the time Cassandra graduated with a dual-degree in museum management and archaeology, she was a different person than that bookish recluse who wanted to escape her family. Her course of study might have reinforced that scholarly and somewhat aloof attitude that she had left high school with, but her Uncle and friends she made at college changed it all. While Cassandra could attend gallery openings and museum parties and discuss literature, the great masters and the typical high society garbage, she much preferred bar-hopping, rollerskating and, yes, a good rock concert. Above all, thanks to her uncle, she has a devilish sense of humor and enjoys a good practical joke.

A good joke is what attracted her to her husband, Tony Salvatore.

She first met Tony when she was an assistant at the Copen Museum. Tony was doing construction work at the museum. On a dare from co-workers, he had stripped down to his briefs and was posing next to a copy of Michelangelo's famous statue "David." Tony thought the museum was deserted. What his co-workers didn't tell him was that the museum's backers were going to be touring the renovations. Just as Cassandra and a group of 12 of the museum's primary contributors walked through the plastic cover blocking off the wing under renovations, Tony had jumped up on a crate and was emulating David's famous backward glance pose. Needless to say the backers were shocked. Thinking fast, Cassandra explained that Tony was part of a new exhibit entitled "Modern Man and the Classics." In sotte voce so the donators would not hear her, she told Tony to remain perfectly still. Then she proceeded to explain how the museum planed an exhibit that would showcase how modern man views the classics in advertising, pop culture, etc.

"This particular statue," she said, resting her hand on Tony's calf, "is part of a Calvin Kline underwear ad campaign."

"How wonderful," exclaimed a 50-ish matron who had donated well over $10 million to the museum. "But, it looks so life-like."

"Oh, I agree it is extremely life-like, but it's just the new plastics they are using," Cassandra said. "It's quite indestructible," she added planting a light slap on Tony's leg.

The backers all congratulated her on what a wonderful idea it was and how life-like the statue was as they proceeded out of the wing.

The next day, Tony invited Cassandra out to diner. He figured he owed her that much for getting him out of the situation. Cassandra said yes. She had never met anyone who could handle a practical joke that well. Only her uncle was better.

By the time the show "Modern Man and the Classics" opened (Her boss agreed it was a good idea and allowed her to pursue it.) Cassandra and Tony had been dating for two months.

The museum's backers were disappointed to learn that the Calvin Kline statue had to be returned before the show. However Tony assured Cassandra there would be no repeat performances unless she was willing to participate in a recreation of the "Birth of Aphrodite."

By the time Tony and Cassandra were engaged, how they met had become a private joke. Tony routinely says he met Cassandra while she was admiring one of the most wondrous works of the art world. Cassandra says she was first attracted to Tony because of his devotion to the arts. "He'd even strip for them," she told one close friend. Cassandra and Tony appeared to have the perfect relationship but then they met their relatives. Tony got along great with Cassandra's Uncle Alex. Tony's mom, Erma, thought Cassandra was a dear. The problem was the rest of their families.

Cassandra's parents were horrified to learn that their daughter was planning to marry an Italian Roman Catholic and the boy had no plans of converting. Tony's family was willing to overlook Cassandra being a Greek Orthodox as long as the children were raised Catholic.

Neither Cassandra, nor Tony could understand the problem. They both believed in God. Isn't that all that should matter? It also helped that they were madly in love and when people are madly in love they don't tend to see the obstacles before them.

Distance helped overcome most of the problems between their families and everything worked out until the two sets of relatives flew into San Francisco for the wedding. Tony and Cassandra had opted for a nondenominational service. This wasn't good enough. Slowly each family tried to insinuate a little more of what they wanted into the service. One week before the wedding and after the sixth argument, Cassandra just cracked. She couldn't take the arguing any more. She was under enough stress as it was. She recently had been hired as assistant to the museum director at the prestigious De Young museum. Sure the director had four other assistants, but it was still a pretty important job. The museum's Board of Directors wanted her to turn around the dropping visitor numbers and renew interest and donations to the facility. They made it very clear that they were taking a chance hiring someone as young and inexperienced as she. They expected immediate results.

This just compounded the stress of a wedding and feuding families. Fed up with it all, Cassandra found herself crying (something she tries to avoid) in Tony's arms over something stupid. The invitations had been printed in the wrong color.

It was then that Cassandra and Tony decided to put an end to all the haggling. The two eloped to Las Vegas where they were married by an Elvis impersonator (the young Elvis). When they returned, marriage certificate and pictures in hand, both of their families were shocked. Cassandra's family promptly informed her that until she came to her senses she was no longer welcome in their home. Tony's family couldn't believe that their solid, upstanding son would do anything this crazy and decided it must be "that woman's fault." They told Tony that he and any children he would have were welcome in their homes but not his wife. Tony replied that they wouldn't see him if they wouldn't see his wife. The only two people who handled the situation with grace was Uncle Alex and Tony's mother Erma. Alex loved the wedding photos and has included copies of the one showing Cassandra, Tony and Elvis in all his restaurants. He says it reminds him of happy times whenever he is visiting one of the restaurants. Erma applauded her son for having the gumption to stick up for the woman he loved.

Since Uncle Alex and Erma were the only two relatives within visiting distance, Tony and Cassandra were not to disappointed by the experience. Lately, though, the two have wondered if they were not a bit hasty in cutting their ties with their families. Sometimes it can be hard, especially around the holidays. Since both of them came from large families, they like to have people around during the holidays. Their first Christmas alone, Cassandra and Tony threw a huge party, deciding that if they couldn't be with their families they would create a new family of friends.

It was on their honeymoon, that Cassandra first found out about her new powers. A wedding gift from Tony had been an Arabic artifact that Cassandra had admired when she went to an auction for the museum. She couldn't afford the necklace and it wasn't on the museum's buying list. Tony saw that she liked it and purchased it. He later surprised her with the necklace on their honeymoon.

In appearance the necklace is rather unremarkable. Polished silver with a series of engravings on it. It is composed of a series of seven links, each joined by a slender silver pin. The auction house estimated it to have been crafted in the 5th century, but offered little more on its origin. It had been part of an anonymous private collection that was being sold after the owner had passed away.

Cassandra and Tony had traveled to Africa on a photo safari for their honeymoon. It was while they were staying at the Serengeti Game Preserve that the first example of Cassandra's powers took place. The 11-year-old son of the head gamekeeper had been attacked by a wild dog. As Tony and Ashula Mibati (the gamekeeper) struggled to get the preserve's battered jeep going, Cassandra stayed with the boy. She had administered first aid, but felt it was insufficient to help save the boy. Already she could see blood flowing again from the long furrows where the dog had gnawed on the boy's leg. Suddenly, Cassandra felt a warm feeling of energy flowing down her arms to the boy she held in her arms. Before her eyes she watched the wounds on his legs and arms close up. By the time the men had gotten the jeep running, 11-year-old Isfaru was walking around playing with the chickens in the yard. Everyone, including Cassandra, was stunned. But Ashula decided that this was something for Tony and Cassandra to sort out and said nothing. However, when the American couple left, he presented them with a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy in gratitude for what Cassandra did to save his boy. The couple, puppy in tow, returned to San Francisco with more questions then when they left.

They settled into a house in the East Bay area, where Cassandra often takes the newly christened Lobola (Swazi word meaning "gift") for walks. They call her Lobo for short. Cassandra and Tony both went back to work.

Things at the museum have been topsy-turvey since Cassandra's return. Her first new exhibit was entitled, "Working Girl's Story - Prostitution Throughout the Ages." The display, which covered how prostitution influenced politics, culture and the arts, raised eyes around the Bay Area. The town was liberal, but the rest of the nation was not. The fact that Cassandra brought the exhibit into the sacred halls of conservatism - a museum - raised even more eyes. The display was even a topic on "60 Minutes."

When the museum board called her in, Cassandra was prepared. They may have not liked the exhibit but it accomplished what they wanted. Museum attendance was up 200 percent. They were already getting new funding from unlooked for groups. Plus, there was all the free publicity on national tv.

The Board of Directors, agreed in a 7-3 vote to allow Cassandra to continue. But the exhibit brought her some enemies. Miles Standish, an old, wealthy and powerful member of the Museum Board voted against Cassandra. He has decided that he doesn't like this new assistant and would love to find some way to convince the rest of the board to dismiss her.

Cassandra's view of Standish is that he is a Republican blue-blood, with no sense of humor or compassion. Being a Democrat, she has had to endure Standish's quips about Clinton, but then she's gotten in a few good Dole jokes herself. Cassandra hasn't decided how she feels about San Francisco's new Mayor, Willie Brown. Part of her admires the man at being able to lead California politics for so long. But another part of her detests his back-room shenanigans. Tony has a little more reason to worry about the new mayor. As a contractor, Tony does a lot of work for the city and a change in government could affect his chance at getting jobs. He's adopted a cautious position with Brown's new administration. He's also a Democrat, which helps. But Tony has always been a fair player. He refuses to do kickbacks or under-the-table dealings to get a job. Practices that Brown's administration is rumored to employ.

When they returned from their honeymoon, Cassandra continued to experiment with the necklace. She could discover little more about the necklace's previous owner. The auction house refused to give up a name and none of her friends in the antiquities trade had seen its like before. While unusual in its design, the jewelry stores she took the necklace to said it was not too expensive. When she consulted with an expert in Middle Eastern jewelry and artifacts, she was told her necklace had probably been a cheap trinket given by a man to his wife sometime before the First Crusade. Only its age and relatively good condition, gave the necklace any worth on the auction block today.

Cassandra would disagree with this assessment. In the weeks since their honeymoon to Africa, she had found the necklace granted her extraordinary powers. Once, when she and Tony were nearly mugged, the necklace's power allowed her to somehow knock the would-be thief unconscious. She also discovered a strange ability to teleport when wearing the necklace. The power came quite unexpectedly when she was standing in a back room at the museum. She had been thinking about some boxes she had forgotten in her car when suddenly she found herself outside standing next to her vehicle.

Tony was ecstatic to hear about each new power, especially the teleportation. He saw this as a convenient way to get good Italian food without having to spend four hours on a plane to reach Little Italy in New York. Cassandra nipped that idea in the bud. She was not going to start teleporting across the world just because he had a craving for food. Power should not be abused for material gain, she told him.

"But this isn't material gain," Tony said. "I'm going to eat it so technically there will be no gain, only momentary satisfaction."

He still didn't win the argument.

For some reason the amulet only seemed to work on Cassandra. Tony tried on the necklace, which barely fit around his neck. And no matter how hard he concentrated nothing happened. Cassandra granted that all he did was look foolish. This huge man, wearing this tiny necklace and screwing up his face so he looked he was trying to pass a Kidney stone. Of course her laughter didn't really help, Tony informed her some time a later. But, he was content to let her "wear the thing." "It looks better on you," he added. "Especially, with nothing else on." (Remember, they're newlyweds.)

Afterwards, it was Tony who suggested that Cassandra try out superheroing.

"I think it would be great to have a superheroine in the family," he said. "Besides, it would probably give your family a coronary."

"Well what about yours," Cassandra replied. "I'm sure they'd love to have a Greek Orthodox superheroine raising their grandkids."

Tony started laughing, "It would probably give Nana Giovina a heart attack."

At that moment Lobo came bounding in, jumped on the bed and lathered dog kisses over both of them effectively ending the discussion. But a couple of days later, Tony showed up at her office and took Cassandra out to lunch. He then gave her a box with a huge ribbon on it. Glancing inside she found a a silver and black outfit that was definitely not like anything she had ever worn before.

"I swear the seamstress thinks I'm into something kinky, but I told her it was a Halloween costume for my girlfriend. I even used a fake name and paid cash so they wouldn't be able to trace it," Tony says smiling at Cassandra. "I hope I got the measurements right."

"Well, your going to have to wait until tonight to see it on," Cassandra said with a smile. "But it looks lovely."

It did look lovely on and the measurements were perfect. But Cassandra still had no idea how to get started in the whole profession of superheroing.

"You know, the never offered classes in this when I was at college," she told Tony. "I don't even know where to start."