Excellent point about the threshold, that I had forgotten.

What Murphy did was enough to be guilty of "aggravated battery with a deadly weapon".
The fact that she won quickly doesn't make it not a fight.

It seems to me that you want a lot more mileage out of your npc's actions than a simple aspect is going to grant you. There is some leeway in the invoke for effect area of aspects, but regardless of its name, an aspect  is somewhat limited. (mechanically it is a +2, or some reasonable equivalent as an invoke).  This is the idea your pc is responding to. You framed the situation as an npc rolled an 8, so it seems reasonable to him that if he slaps down some fp and gets a 9 he wins.
 If the situation were reversed and one of your pc's made a great maneuver roll would you allow him to tie up months of an npc's time and effort? I probably wouldn't.

It seems more like you want him to handle it like a consequence. That is entirely possible, but you would need to stat the business up as a character like someone already suggested. Given the npc's skills and stunt's he probably could have arranged an "ambush" that blindsided your pc's company and delivered a consequence the first blow. Then the little miniquests could be undertaken as "justification" to heal the damage or maneuvers to place aspects. Most of these would be on a larger timescale than your standard social rolls. Your npc could continue his attacks or maneuvers. This is the approach I would take if I wanted a real number crunchy way to handle it. (Beware the real possibility of actually crushing his business this way though)

If you simply want something with a persistent influence that helps to move the plot in new directions, I would consider introducing it as a new threat. This way your players know it will take considerable effort to address the rising issues.

 

In this case i would just consider Harry's description in the books of how distracting it is to simply turn it on and look at the city streets. It seems to be a dubious proposition to me that you are going to have the concentration to wield the energies of creation while doing it.

I agree with Tedronai about the core rule being preeminent, but for me the level of skepticism certainly raises as to what I would find "justifiable".

I agree Tedronai.
HumAnnoyd's problem with his fellow player's bike is narrative rather than system though. The system in place is no that impressive. His group is just ignoring it when it would "make a cool scene" and it seems to be rubbing him the wrong way. Having it occasionally crash and burn would address the issue.

Occasional compel for the magic to hex it at a crucial moment.
Assuming that your game happens between ww2 and present day, mortal magic wreaks havoc on technology. Everyone once in a while that needs to blow up in his face.

Glad to hear it.
I think We forumites reacted zealously to the initial post, before taking a breath to try a more helpful explanation.
The reason is quite simple. It is very easy to overlook how powerful Beast change is.
All of the numbers in this game are very small. The impact difference between skill level 1 and skill level 4 is huge. For 1?(blanking on actual price)refresh you can have a character who happens to be the most knowledgeable, most connected, or richest flip a switch and be a complete monster slayer. That is a massive advantage.
Virtually every other character type has to make hard decisions between combat vs out of combat skills. Shifters don't.

If you want some examples just check out the play by post ooc threads. Many games have a shifter and most  of those shifters human forms have maxed non combat skills.