If they were just taking an aggressive stance, I could let it go. Yelling at me was not going to change anything. I had all the power, fame and prestige here. After failing to intimidate me, one of the thugs tried to shove me. I did not budge. He simply was not strong enough to do it unless I allowed him. "What the hell?" he cried out in shock. I did not say anything yet. I did not need to. His friends were also taken aback with how sturdy I was. I looked at him and said "I'm sorry man. Were you trying to get my attention!?" He just glared at me. "Of course I was! I'm telling you to get lost!" he screamed. I nodded my head and began walking. The others echoed the sentiment. The thugs had suffered enough humiliation for now. I was not trying to mess with them anyway. I just wanted Wind Clan. That was it. I was going to ask them if they knew anything about where Wind Clan was hiding. Even a minor safehouse for the cyborgs would do. I could work with that. When I turned around, I saw they were all aiming the guns at me. I jumped out the way of a hailstorm of bullets. I began returning fire.
Eventually, I had killed them all. I hardly broke a sweat. What I did break was the danger rating with that faction. Phobia Syndicate members began to swarm me. It was a massive inconvenience. I went back to the motel. I had to stash the laptop at that point. I did not have Paul or Brett to bail me out. If I died because of the hits put out on me, I died. Because I was a Player, that did not really matter much. I would just be in a void for a couple of minutes and respawn back at the place where I last rested. It would be boring waiting for a respawn, but I could manage it. That would mean I would be returning to the motel room. Without my gear though. All of the stuff I died with would be left where I died. Dying was the only way to reset the threat meter. I could try to dip and dodge them, but they would always "find" me by having goons spawn in nearby every so often. That was not to say all of the existing members would not also be looking for me too. Eventually, a mini boss in the form of an assassin would appear. The laptop was crucial to my mission. I could not lose it. I got in another fight.
Fighting Phobia goons was not a good way to find the AEP units. Still, I had my pride as a Player. Letting a grunt kill me was too lame to even consider. I would run from a group until I was cornered. Then I would use magic to kill them. From there, I would roam to a new section of the city. I ended up repeating this process until I saw a police blockade around a coffee shop. I knew something was going on. I was across the street when a SUV came up and started firing at me. I scrambled for cover, but I still got shot up. An assassin had appeared. He got out the car and sighed. "Looks like you can think on your feet, huh dipshit?" he said before engaging me. The police were right there, so they also got involved. The assassin had no qualms fighting them all. The police were grunts too. Other than some minor bruises and scrapes, the assassin killed all 10 without taking much damage. I used my magic to attack from cover. It got him good. "What the fuck!?" he exclaimed. He had no counter for a magic assault. I loved having powers. We were still fighting when those shop doors opened.
