<div class="floatright">(https://dl.dropbox.com/u/51347106/Images/Share/1dfb11d1bad44717231a023c365ed23d.jpeg)</div>Outside it was sweltering hot in Vegas, the original sin city. That didn't really bother one who was used to living life in the underworld however. Mariastopheles, Maria for short, had decided to make one of her trips to the human world to go have a bit of fun. She had stopped by the Gambler's Anonymous building and dropped off some fliers for the casino's which was the minimum amount of work necessary for her to pass this off as a business trip, what with the tempting mortals and all. Now she planned on hitting those casino's herself. She didn't so much need the money as she enjoyed basking in the greed of it all. Those seven deadly sins were anything but deadly to her kind. Maria was a demoness, a corrupter of mortal souls. If she had a specialty when it came to the deadly sins it would have to be lust. That said she was pretty good at greed and pride as well.<br/><br/>Technically she wasn't supposed to be in the mortal realm just now. She hadn't cleared it with her superiors for this particular trip. She was good at getting permission after the fact but to be safe she had one of her co-workers watching for any work that might pop up and forwarding it to her on her cell. She was about to enter her first casino when she heard the beep indicating a new message had just come through. “Damn it all. It would have to be now wouldn't it.” One hand dug into the massive cleavage to fish out the cell phone. She adjusted her glasses and looked at what had been sent to her. She blinked and read it again. Surely not. The goddess help line was so rarely reached. It looked like it had been however. A grin crept over her face. Since the demons had lobbied for and won a fair competition clause a while back they had a chance to intervene when a goddess was sent to assist a mortal as part of the program.<br/><br/>Maria wedged her phone back into her cleavage securely and cast a spell of travel. Stepping through the doors of the casino instead of finding herself inside it she was now in an alley near the home of the human who had dialed a goddess by accident. “Time to put on the full demoness effect.” Maria stretched her arms and back and as she did her wings, horns, and tail emerged from her skin. A sensuous moaning sound escaped her lips as they came forth. Uttering a spell of invisibility to mortals she flew up and waited outside the window of the hapless mortal who had called upon supernatural aid unknowingly. She needed an in when the goddess arrived. Just enough of a precedent that she could get a foothold and then she'd have earned an equal chance to compete with the goddess to serve the mortal.<br/><br/>She listened as the goddess arrived and presented herself to the mortal. Maria snickered as she saw him somersault out of his chair in shock. His reaction to the goddess was pretty normal for a mortal getting their first brush with the divine. He technically made a wish of sorts but it was just what Maria needed. The hesitation was enough that she could argue her case to intervene. With that she opened the window quietly and floated into the room before dropping the spell keeping her hidden from Mike's eyes. Appearing between the pair she held up a hand to stop the goddess.<br/><br/>“Now hold on blondie. According to the dial-a-goddess fair competition clause this case clearly calls for an evaluation period. At the end of which it would be determined who best granted his wish.” She flipped her hair as she looked back towards Mike. Shooting him a playful wink and a smile she also flicked her tail  behind her. He was kind of cute in an average guy sort of way. What she was more occupied with was the thought of all the rewards she would rack up back home if she managed to snag the prize for one of these types of missions. One step at a time, she told herself.<br/><br/><br class="clear_right"/>