Cassio Montagna/History

Cassio Montagna was born Cassio Alessandro di Aiello and identifies himself as Italian.

## Life Before Passione

Cassio was the younger identical twin of Francesco di Aiello. They were raised by their single mother, a former actor forced into retirement upon revealing her pregnancy, after their father last minute left the family before they were born, but both brothers experienced neglect in the early stages of their lives. The mother spent much of their early life living a partying lifestyle, often leaving the two at home with minimal care, leading to Francesco to take up the role as caregiver for his brother. It wasn't until the two of them turned five that their mother began taking notice of the older brother. Despite being identical, their mother began doting on the older more after an encounter with a talent agent suggested both could become movie stars and have the potential to make it in the industry. The mother believed that Francesco had the better potential due to his notably more "mature" personality, a behavior developed from the neglect forcing the older one to care for the younger one, and began Francesco's career as a child actor in order to live vicariously through him. This caused Cassio to be further neglected and separated from his brother, initially building a growing rift between the brothers where Cassio felt resentful of Francesco's supposed abandonment.

The effects of Francesco's career eventually made the two brothers look and act completely different. Cassio's neglect led him to interact with many vagrant children and local criminals who taught him street smarts as his family constantly moved around for Francesco's career and to avoid eviction. Between these moves, Cassio found himself earning extra money as a janitor and messenger boy for local fighting gyms, oftentimes using his "cute face and personality" to be hired by these places and stay away from home longer. Working there led him to learn the ropes of MMA and boxing, which he also used to let out his frustrations of his life. He eventually got himself into children competitions, winning prize money and awards so he could care for himself. Neither his brother and mother were aware of his activities outside of home, as the latter barely cared.

Despite the initial resentment, Cassio eventually learned the truth about Francesco's constant absence and behavior, as Cassio learned of the forced drug intake and harsh working condition his brother had to endure for their mother's fantasy. Cassio continued to work harder, saving money in order to help his brother run away, while not aware of Francesco doing the same with the little money he can salvage after his mother took much of his earnings to feed her wants. Because Cassio is able to earn and retain more money than his brother, he oftentimes tries to use it to secretly buy and feed his brother extra food. The two separately tried to reach out to services and law enforcement but found no success after a few attempts; Francesco eventually told him to stop the pursuit- as it would mean further abuse from their mother and the high possibility of the two becoming separated if they were ultimately saved from her. Unbeknownst to Cassio, Francesco had some evidence that he secretly stashed away in case they were needed; the latter believed the evidence, however, may not be enough to free them from their mother's custody. People that they had tried tor each out to ended up being bribed to discredit the brothers or claim there is no evidence of abuse.

## Death of Family and Street Fighting

Cassio woke up to his brother dead from an accidental drug overdose and years of malnutrition finally taking its toll on his body. The coroner's office ruled it as a self-inflicted suicide but Cassio quickly knew that the inspectors and law-enforcers were bribed by his mother to cover up her contribution to it. Rather than privately mourn Francesco's death, their mother invested herself into a large PR tour that painted her has a grieving parent who's child was a victim of drug abuse and eating disorders. The funeral was made public, against Cassio's wishes, and the media was made to believe that Francesco's death was caused by his inability to fight addiction rather than his mother's years of abuse. Francesco became a poster child for drug abuse in the child acting world and the life insurance that was under his name was given completely to their mother. At the same time, their mother showed no remorse or grief behind the scenes and continued her lavish partying lifestyle. It was clear that his mother considered Francesco nonexistent after he no longer could be used by her.

Cassio discovered his Stand Polyphia several days after his brother's death when he noticed a knocked down vase that his mother loved. When trying to pick up the pieces, he was shocked to find it reassemble itself and placed back on the shelf where it initially fell from; his Stand's actual appearance initially frightened him but he eventually accepted after realizing it wasn't going to hurt him. He attempted to do the same with other objects around the house he deliberately broke and found that touching a street cat caused it to walk back to the trashcan it came out of; he noted it done against the cat's will and realized that his reversal ability aligns more with movement than time. He also found out that he was able to un-lodge a piece of candy that was caught on his throat when he was home alone and decided to use his Stand against his mother in revenge. While eating dinner with her, he used his power to reverse the flow of her digestive system so that she could throw up all her food and eventually stomach acid. Because of the Stand's ability, Cassio discovered that the stomach acid continued to replenish itself despite his mother vomiting, and used it to taunt her and claim what he was doing was exactly what she forced Francesco to endure; whether this was in reference to Francesco's own death or his practice of purging is unknown. The ability eventually caused him to pass out from exhaustion due to its excessive energy use and he wake up to his mother dead from heart arrhythmias caused by constant vomiting.

Upon seeing his mother now dead, Cassio packed up whatever he could and ran away from home. He eventually heard that the coroner's office ruled her death as food poisoning. While homeless, Cassio began working in the underground street fighting venues before he was given a chance to fight for money. He became a known fighter in his community, rising in the ranks and reputation, and not only earned enough money to buy his own place and live more comfortably but gained connections within the mafia world. Many crime syndicates approached him with offers to join their teams as a fighter in exchange for a more stable income and protection, but Cassio refused. It was through the underground fighting ring that he eventually met Olio Nero.

## Joining Olio's Team

Olio encountered Cassio at a fighting ring event, wanting to talk to the other, but was refused due to Cassio's personal policy of not wanting to get involved in anything besides underground fighting for himself. Rather than give up, Olio decided to enter his own name into the tournament and fight off against Cassio. He quickly realized the other was able to win fights by using his Stand, which Olio could see as a Stand user, to reverse his or his opponent's throws last minute. This would cause his opponent to become too open to defend themselves and therefore allow Cassio to land a hard hit without issue. Olio quickly took advantage of this and timed himself to get into defense every time Cassio reversed his own punches. This led to him becoming exhausted from using his Stand more than usual, making him too tired to properly go on the defense, and Olio was able to beat him as a result. He wins the competition and gained the reward for it, causing Cassio's winning streak to finally break after several months of victories.

When Cassio was recovering in the makeshift locker room and preparing for his next potential fight, Olio managed to bribe everyone but him and Cassio to leave the room and not let anyone else in. Cassio was caught off guard when he realized he was alone with his defeater and when Olio approached him with the stack of money from winning their fight. The other hesitantly takes it after going back and forth with him for a few minutes. The two of them engaged in small talk, with Cassio telling Olio how he got into underground fighting- albeit not mentioning anything about his family- and Olio talked about how his cousin's death led him to become a mafioso. It was then revealed that Olio, similar to how he encountered Zura, wanted to meet with Cassio because he wanted to talk about the case surrounding his brother and mother. Olio took out a large file from a suitcase he was carrying to reveal the evidence Francesco had saved regarding his mother. It was revealed that Olio was sent to investigate Cassio's mother's death due to her being a recent partner of a high-ranking mafioso that was collaborating with Passione and wanted to determine whether her death had any connection to the latter. Olio gave the file to Cassio, thinking that he would need it more than him, now that the investigation was over, and the former came to visit the latter. However, because Cassio refuses to talk to anyone, especially if they are trying to recruit him into anything, Olio was prepared to fight him in order to gain a private audience.

Cassio, believing that he deserved to tell Olio since the latter had defeated him despite using his Stand and interested in what Olio was trying to get out of him, reveals why he killed his mother and how he did it as revenge for her treatment against Francesco. He then tells Olio that he did not do it as a means of getting contact with the mafioso but doesn't mind getting killed to appease the "higher-ups" and states he has nothing to live for now. Cassio then asked the other man about his abilities, which Olio then explained was Cassio's Stand. When Olio explained what his own Stand was and how he used it to help him win their brawl, Cassio became suspicious about what Olio's other intentions were besides giving him memorabilia. Olio eventually told the other that he was looking to recruit people into his team and admired Cassio's sense of justice and use of his Stand to do so. Olio offers a position as a means of also protecting him from the mafioso associated with his mother, which Cassio accepts, saying he had to join since Olio beat him in the fight. Despite Olio saying that he wanted Cassio to join on his free will, Cassio decided to join anyway and left his fighting career immediately.

Cassio was placed as third-in-command ofThe Hitman Team and became known as a close-confidant to Olio. When Taehyung Pescatore was found by him and Zura Grattachecca, he volunteered to be a mentor to him; Taehyung, for some reason, reminded him of Francesco.

## Death

Before Cassio died, he found himself standing in front of a modern mansion's gate after getting off a bus. Upon entering the open door, he walks himself to the backyard where a mysterious man is standing near a clear pool underneath an outdoor umbrella. Cassio commented on the house and asked what steps he took to get rich enough to afford it. The man responded by saying that he had no direction, and that it all fell into place. Cassio disagrees with him, saying that things that are done in the present greatly affects the future, and that there should have been some way that the man afforded such a place. The man simply laughed, saying that what's better is looking at the big picture than the details, and to live with no regrets. Cassio only scoffs, saying how he used to believe in such things before his brother's death, and mentions how he wished he knew all the details so that he could have saved him. The man, however, revealed that Cassio still thinks in the big picture, mentioning how Cassio was the one to come up with reassembling the photo. Remembering what he had to do, Cassio tried to dismiss himself and asked when the bus he arrived from will return. However, the man reveals that the bus will never come back to get him, as it was the same bus that got himself here. That moment, Cassio realized he had passed away and then realized the man he was talking to was his brother Francesco. The two of them mentioned how the other looked unrecognizeable; Cassio mentioning how Francesco looked healthier and happier while Francesco pointed out Cassio's tattoos and rugged appearance. Cassio began to cry and apologized to his brother for not saving him sooner, but Francesco tells him that it wasn't his fault. Before the two looked above from the sky to watch Olio and the rest of the team depart, Francesco tells him that he's done a good job and his efforts will save many lives.

Polyphia's ability is able to reassemble the black-and-white photograph that had Diavolo's face, which Cassio is able to do by staying alive as possible and dying just as he hears his team members approach him. With the photo now in possession, The Hitman Team is able to identify the actual face of the boss, which Gigi Una confirmed to be her father's based on similar facial features. Olio made a call to Hitman Team #36 to retrieve Cassio's body and put it in a safe place until they can retrieve his body again.

## Post-Fate of Zephyr

It is unknown if Cassio had any remaining family that tried to reach out to him. Giorno created a memorial for him, which he visits regularly.