Over dinner, Sonic listened to some of the music on Tails' CD player. He was taken aback by how heavy and melodic the riffs were. With how sensitive his hearing was, he could even make out the screams.

"This is pretty heavy, bud. Where'd you find this?"

Tails shrugged.

"Just got bored one day and started lookin' for stuff to listen to. Read the wiki page on metalcore and gave it a go."

"Now the whole personality change makes sense. Wondered what made you mellow out so much."

"I didn't really change that much. I just know how to focus my energy now."

"Fair enough. What's this one called, anyway?"

"CD's called The Tragedy by Prayer for Cleansing."

"Sounds familiar."

"It's a religious prayer from Christian theology. Basically a plea to wash away one's own evil."

"That's pretty deep."

"There was a strong religious influence in the metalcore scene during the 90's. Back then, it was called spirit-filled hardcore. It was basically evenly split between religious and secular groups."

"How many bands have you found so far?"

"About twenty-five."

"You'll have to show me sometime."

"Why don't you come back to my place after we finish up here?"

"Gee, I don't know. With that little peck earlier, I might be tempted to try somethin'."

Tails smiled seductively.

"Guess we'll have to see which one of us acts first."

Sonic tossed his chili dog in the air, catching it without so much as looking.

"You're a freak, ya know that?"

"Damn straight."

"Not for you."

"Cornball."