He even goes so far as to rescue Eric as he flees from choppers after his latest killing, though Eric is quick to disappear afterwards. Upon meeting again later on, Eric explains what he's doing and offers his best reason as to why he's come back. Albrecht tells him what he knows of Shelly's death and reveals that he stayed with her as she suffered through thirty hours of agony before dying. Eric touches Albrecht and receives from him all the pain felt by Shelly during that time.
Gideon goes to Top Dollar (Michael Wincott), the leader of all gangs in Detroit, and warns him about Eric. Top Dollar responds by stabbing Gideon through the throat with a sword, sinking it to the hilt, as his lover/half sister/soothsayer, Myca (Bai Ling), looks on with glee. Not quite dead yet, Gideon is finished off when Top Dollar shoots him point blank.
T-Bird and Skank stop at a convenience store for supplies. Eric sneaks into the car and kidnaps T-Bird while Skank is in the store.
Skank runs into the street, gets hit by a car and steals it to follow the pair; he watches as Eric ties T-Bird to the driver's seat of a car with explosives strapped to him. Eric lets the car drive off the pier where it explodes midair and sinks into the harbor.
When the police arrive, they discover a fiery symbol in the shape of a crow at the scene. Meanwhile, Darla tries to reconcile with Sarah by making her breakfast; though Sarah is skeptical at first of her mother's sudden change of heart, she accepts the effort and hugs her. Albrecht's "superior" reams him out just because he can and tells him he's suspended for misconduct.
Sarah goes to Eric's apartment and speaks out to the shadows, feeling that he must be nearby. She tells him that she misses him and Shelly but, when no one responds, goes to leave and says that she figured he wouldn't care anymore. Eric speaks to her, appearing in the window, and tells her that, although they cannot be friends anymore, he still cares about her. Skank retreats to the gang hideout, rambling wildly about Eric; Sarah and Albrecht bond over their mutual experiences with Eric and discuss how he came back.
At the gang hideout, Top Dollar, hardly concerned for T-Bird's fate, is discussing plans for criminal activity on Devil's Night with other associates. Eric crashes the meeting looking for Skank, and proceeds to make fun of everyone in the room.
A massive gunfight ensues, while Top Dollar escapes with Myca and his lieutenant, Grange (Tony Todd). Eric easily kills everyone in the room by gun, fists and swords, saving Skank for last, throwing him out the window. The police arrive to find Eric the last man standing; he escapes with Albrecht's help. Top Dollar, Grange, and Myca discuss Eric and his unique abilities. Myca reveals that Eric is invulnerable to harm, but only if his link to the real world, the crow, remains untouched.
Eric gives her Shelly's engagement ring as a necklace. Sarah leaves the cemetary only to be abducted by Grange and taken to a local church where Top Dollar and Myca are hiding out. Through the crow, Eric sees that Sarah is in danger and goes to rescue her. The crow flies inside ahead of him but is sniped by Grange.
Eric, not realizing what wounding the crow has done for his own immunity, accosts Top Dollar, saying he'll let him leave if he gives Sarah to Eric. Top Dollar shoots Eric, now no longer invincible, then smacks him around some; Sarah is taken to the upper levels of the church. Albrecht, having gone to the church to pay his respects, realizes what's happening and comes in shooting.
He finds Eric on the floor and helps him towards the spiral staircase in the back. The wounded crow is picked up by Myca, who hopes to harness its mystical powers. Albrecht manages to shoot and kill Grange, but not before being wounded. He stays below as Eric ascends the stairs. Myca meets him halfway up, holding the crow at knifepoint, but the crow lunges up and pecks her eyes out, causing her to fall from the stairs to her death.
Eric makes it to the roof where Top Dollar is holding Sarah. He pushes her off the roof though she manages to hold onto some scaffolding as Top Dollar and Eric fight. Distracted for a moment by Sarah's cries for help, Eric is stabbed through the back by Top Dollar who admits to having everything to do with Eric and Shelly's deaths, claiming that nothing goes on in their town without his say-so.
He tell Eric that he's enjoyed their sparring and that he'll miss him, but before he can kill him, Eric grabs him and bestows his gratitude for Top Dollar's crimes: all of the thirty hours of pain Shelly had to endure at once. In agonizing pain, Top Dollar falls off the roof and is impaled on a gargoyle. Eric rescues Sarah and brings her to Albrecht who is soon taken to an ambulance.
Eric then disappears from sight and crawls to Shelly's grave before passing out. Her spirit comes to him, sans face paint, and they are finally reunited. Later, Sarah visits Eric's grave, which has closed up once again. The crow stands on his headstone, holding Shelly's ring that Sarah lost during her abduction. The crow drops it in Sarah's hand. As it flies off into the night, Sarah narrates that, though buildings burn and people die, real love is forever.