It’s always late, always dark, when he puts on the cape.

The man who calls himself Brampton Batman is nocturnal. He patrols his city ’til 3 a.m. nightly, walking for hours in all weather. He approaches no one, and only responds when addressed directly. His stride is sure. He waits obediently at crosswalks: It’s the law.

He wasn’t certain how people or local police would react when he came out publicly wearing the black leather cape, the fitted black cowl that covers his forehead and obscures his face, the vinyl muscle, the black paint around his eyes, the boots, the gloves, the imposing figure he has created.

People loved it. That was in July. As with all superheroes, his true identity is a closely-held secret, but he let the Star in on the mystery. He patrols the streets after clocking out from the evening shift at his job.

On a recent Sunday night, he steps into a downtown Starbucks to get out of the biting wind. The barista knows his order — one mint tea bag, one chamomile tea bag, cream and sugar in a large cup — and it’s on the house.

The man known by day as Stephen Lawrence, 38, is a true, if minor, celebrity in Brampton. When he walks into the café, some girls titter quietly or stare and nudge each other. A group of teenage girls celebrating a birthday ask for a photo.

It’s the first of many. At a red light near Gage Park, a man hops out of his car to snap a picture. A young couple with a baby stroller nearly misses their bus on Queen St., they are so excited to see him. All over town are shouts of “Batman!” Car horns blare constantly.

Lawrence is pleased, but not flustered. “Stay safe,” he tells his fans in the low voice he uses while in costume.

A couple of men outside a bar holler at him, then resume singing, loudly Pink Floyd’s “Wish you were here.”

It’s not Lawrence’s favourite song. He likes the more serious ones, he says.

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He grew up across the GTA with parents who were British by way of Jamaica, which explains his chivalrous attitude, he says. He moved to Brampton in 1998 to work in manufacturing. He speaks about his background freely; after all, Bruce Wayne had a day job, too.

The transition from regular guy to DC Comics’ superhero, the Dark Knight — the incarnation of Batman he prefers — began when he was a high school student at Brother Andre Catholic High School in Markham.

At 17, he was awarded a civilian citation by the York Regional Police for tackling someone who tried to use a bogus credit card at a mall jewelry store and making a citizen’s arrest. It was later discovered the man was wanted for fraud on a Canada-wide warrant.

“Stephen Lawrence was checking out the girls in Markville Mall when he heard a cry for help,” reads a Toronto Star story from July 8, 1993.

As a college student, he gave CPR to a person he saw collapse outside his window. He caught another would-be thief in St. Catharines. These events just happened, he says. He sees them as fate. He also sees parallels with the real Bruce Wayne, including the death of his father, and martial arts training. Plus he’s secretly been wearing a cape and cowl since age 14. Adopting the hero persona was a natural, if lengthy progression.

What’s the biggest villain he faces today? It’s simple.

“Racism.”

He also hates bullying, sarcasm and disrespectful language.

“It’s a poor defence for a hurt person’s bad attitude,” he says.

He has thousands of fans on Twitter and Facebook, and hundreds of pictures posted by those fans. He signs his emails Bruce Wayne or the Dark Knight and his cellphone greeting is a quote from Episode 58 of the 1993 animated series voiced by Kevin Conroy:

“I don’t know who you are or why you’re doing this. It takes more than an attitude and a costume to do this work.”

The final, essential piece is the car. He got his hands on it this winter after a year of saving up and walking home from work. He bought it from Orangeville entrepreneur Glenn McCullagh, who turned a sedan into the 1989 rendition of the superhero’s car. McCullagh, who looks eerily similar to actor Michael Keaton, made one for himself he says was appraised at $45,000 in 2011.

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“I’m the one who said ‘Get yourself out there and be seen, so people get used to (the car),’” McCullagh says.

During Sunday night’s patrol, a Peel Regional Police officer didn’t blink when Batman strolled past him on Queen St.

Officers don’t have a problem with his presence because he’s not breaking any laws, said police spokesman Sgt. Matt Small.

“We’re not asking him to involve himself in any crime fighting. We’re doing pretty well on our own.”

As for the future Batmobile, it’s street legal, as far as Small knows.

Toronto has its own Batman, Alexander Brovedani, who busks at Yonge-Dundas Square.

“I don’t take it overly serious,” he said. “I see myself more as an entertainer.”

He’s met Brampton’s Batman. There’s no rivalry, but the friendship didn’t stick.

Lawrence didn’t want to get out of costume or reveal his real name, Brovedani said. “It was just one of those things.”

Lawrence is grateful the people of Brampton have welcomed his alter ego.

“I can be who I really am. I can help people, I can make people smile, I can engage a city, and capture imaginations, I can stop crime if I see it,” Lawrence said, adding he’s keenly aware vigilante justice is illegal.

His presence is meant to be positive and distracting. No crimes have happened in front of him anyway. He likes to see strangers interacting because of him. Members of today’s society are “disassociated” from themselves and each other, he says.

Just before the sun comes up, he goes home. Bruce Wayne may have been a playboy, but Lawrence takes off his cape alone.

“Typically, myself, I’ve always been single. For some reason I have a difficult time changing that,” he said. He thought being gentlemanly would attract women. He makes his bed every morning. He doesn’t swear. He wears a suit jacket and tie over his work uniform, he says, because “suits and ties are the best kind of guys.” But he thinks nice guys finish last.

Most of his friends are married now, and his parents aren’t exactly thrilled their son walks the streets as a superhero. He went to Fan Expo in Toronto this summer, and loved it. He’s heard stories of couples meeting at comic book Fan Expo, but it hasn’t happened for him yet.

Women are interested “in there, yes. Once you leave, they think you’re nuts.”

As much as he believes in his superhero character, Lawrence would give up the cape and cowl for love. Maybe.

“She’d have to be worth it,” he says.