Molecular Combustion

Molecular Combustion is the ability to make molecules speed up to the point that they combust. The power is channeled through hand gestures. It is an extremely rare power, and is one of the strongest offensive power possessed by the Charmed Ones. It is an advancement of Molecular Immobilization.

Variations
There are a few ways to use this power:
 * Vanquish demons by speeding up their molecule, separating it and ripping them apart.
 * Destroy an object by speeding up the molecules within it, separating it and ripping it apart.
 * Start fires by speeding up molecules.
 * Cause an opponent to ripple backwards.
 * User your power to deviate incoming projectiles.

Strength and Skill
When Piper first received this power, it alternated unpredictably with her freezing power, especially after the death of her older sister, Prue. The reason being, her emotions were very off balance, causing her powers to be highly unstable. After she recovered from Prue's death, she began to practice her power, and as time went by, Piper relied less on her emotional triggers to activate the ability and grew more confident in using it.

She became more precise with it, allowing her to reduce her foes to ashes with the mere flick of a hand. She can selectively target the individual body parts of a demon, blowing them up. Piper also learned to control the strength of her ability varying between destroying a single target. Piper has also been shown to destroy multiple targets in quick succession.

When Piper gets emotional she loses control of the power, as seen when she and Leo were having marital difficulties, as the power is heavily tied to her emotions. When Leo walked away from her during an argument, she unintentionally destroyed the door he had just walked through. Though, the more emotional Piper gets, the stronger her power grows but also the more uncontrollable it is, when she blew up the door unintentionally she used one finger that shows the magnitude of power is greatly enhanced when she is overwhelmed with a lot of emotions.

Combustion
This first aspect of the power is to blow up and destroy object or demons by speeding up their molecules. Piper would simply point her hands in the direction of her target and they will combust, usually after one to three hits. She was able to blow up a member of The Triad, Baliel, with three hits to his chest. However, Baliel's power had been significantly reduced when he accidentally vanquished one of his compatriots, thus weakening the collective. She can also control how powerful she wants to make her power, enough to destroy exceptionally powerful upper-level demons. However, this doesn't always work, as evidenced on multiple occasions.



Ripple Effect
The second aspect of the power is to cause powerful beings to ripple backwards or to knock them off their feet. This is due to the fact that some magical beings are too powerful for the power to destroy, rendering the power near useless when use on them. Piper often relies on this aspect of her power when facing opponents her power can't destroy. She can also cause a ripple effect when she blows up an energy ball, this will create ripples in the air that will thrust the demon.

Deviation
Piper can also manipulate this power in a form of deviation, combusting the molecules surrounding a projectile and redirect it or reflect it back at an attacker. can blast a fireball or an energy ball in mid-air and send it in opposite direction. Once, during a battle she disguised as Wyatt, and hit the edge of a energy ball and guided it into another demon. She also froze an energy ball and by hitting the demon at a certain angle, made him get pushed into the energy ball, vanquishing him. Three years earlier, Piper faced a demon, Tull, who had the ability to throw fire. He threw fire at Piper and she was able to blow it up, however, she knocked down both herself and Tull in the process.

Limitations
This power has a few limitations, these are:


 * 1) Some magical beings are completely immune to the power, the power will have no effect on them.
 * 2) Some upper-level beings can only be knocked back a few feet or only have certain body parts destroyed.
 * 3) Some being can reconstitute themselves after having their molecule separate and rejoined again.
 * 4) The most notable limitation, is that the power is said to be unable to vanquish upper level demons, however, this has been dis-proven on a number of occasions.

History
Tuatha was actually the first user of this power. However, she did not possess this power through natural means, but she could access it through the use of her magical wand by lifting it up with both hands pointed at her target.

The first demon Piper used this power to blow up was Tarkin, who she unintentionally vanquished with this power, while her original intention was to freeze him.

The first time Piper intentionally used this power, was when the Charmed Ones encountered a Banshee. According to the Book of Shadows, there was no known vanquish for the Banshee. Piper soon confronted the Banshee in the attic, not knowing what to do, Leo suggested that Piper blows it up. She believed that she couldn't, but ultimately did. Very shortly after those events Piper tried to use it on Shax, the personal assassin of the Source, but he was far too powerful to be vanquished by it and was merely repelled.

By her eight year of being a witch, Piper had grown powerful enough that she was able to blow up Baliel, a member of The Triad, with three hits to the chest. Previously, the Triad had been thought to be practically unvanquishable by witchcraft. However, Baliel's power had been significantly reduced when he accidentally vanquished one of his compatriots, thus weakening the collective. This is the last power used to vanquish a demon on the series: Piper uses it to blow up the past and present Dumain, vanquishing both with one hit each.

Leo Wyatt
This ability is extremely difficult to control and takes usually takes much more concentration than any other power. When Piper and Leo were having marital problems, Wyatt, from inside the womb, switched Leo and Piper's powers. Piper took to orbing easily, while Leo struggled to control this power. Leo practiced this power in the kitchen. He managed to break the glass on a cabinet, but he was aiming for a pot. With Leo being the only one with an offensive power, he was forced to battle the Siren and found it difficult trying to target her, missing her twice. With much concentration and effort, Leo finally managed to hit the Siren and vanquish her.

Mabel Stillman
When three low-level witches known as the Stillman Sisters stole the Charmed Ones powers, they got them by seniority. Mabel Stillman, like Piper, was the oldest. Thus, she got the oldest sisters powers; Piper's. She was eager to use it on the Charmed Ones, and quickly learned to use it even though she was a low-level witch trying to use an upper-level witch's powers. She was even able to channel it with one hand--something that Piper only mastered after several months. However, Mabel's aim was terrible; in contrast, by this time Piper almost never missed. Mabel became furious when Paige said she could see her roots, this caused Mabel to lash out and attack the charmed ones with both hands. Due to her inability to control the power, and her strong anger, she was unable to hit them.

Tuatha
The first actual user of this power was the sinister and powerful witch Tuatha. She did not possess this power through natural means, but she could access it through the use of her magical wand by lifting it up with both hands pointed at her target. With this power, she killed the innocent Betty, an elderly old woman, in merely seconds. Soon after this dreadful act, she faced the chosen one, Kyle Gwydion. Tuatha and Kyle fought over the wand for what seemed to be an eternity, but when Kyle finally called the wand to his hands, he wished Tuatha gone, and she blew up into a million pieces. This final act was powerful enough to destroy the wand, once and for all.

Molecular Acceleration


This is the power adveanment of Molecular Combustion. It is ability to make molecules reverberate at a speed which causes them to become disordered, this causes an object to rapidly heat up. As a result of this heat, the power can cause objects to liquefy or burn.

Both Piper Halliwell and her niece Tamora Mitchell received this ability in 2008. With it, Piper can melt objects or start fires. However, Tamora can only access this ability because her original power of Molecular Combustion isn't strong enough, while she is a toddler, to speed up molecules to the point of combustion. With it, Tamora was able to encircle herself in a circular scorch mark at Magic School and set her and her sister's room on fire with her power.

Notes and Trivia

 * This power is also referred to as Blasting or Blowing up.
 * Piper does not have to be directly in front of an object to blow it up, she just has to see it. However, her hands must move in the target's direction. Leo pushed Piper away from blowing up Kyra and her hands missed the target, blowing up a picture instead.
 * However, as she became stronger, Piper has shown in some cases that she doesn't have to directly see an object to blow it up, she just have know exactly were the object is. Piper blew up a vase without directly looking at it, until it had already exploded. Piper also blew up an incoming fireball without directly looking at it, because her eyes were looking downward at the spell.
 * Piper has been shown to be able to cause great destruction with her powers. The largest objects she blew up were most likely a warehouse door and a car in "Hell Hath No Fury".
 * In later seasons, Piper's power created more fire than in the earlier seasons. This was likely due to her growth in power.
 * This is the most powerful power of the Charmed Ones, because they don't always have to say a spell in order to vanquish a demon or warlock.
 * Piper can freeze and blow up something simultaneously. The Source, when in possession of Piper's powers, was also seen to do this.
 * This is the last power used in the series to vanquish a demon: Piper blows up both Future Dumain and Past Dumain with this power, vanquishing both in one hit each and taking out Past Dumain as he tried to shimmer away.
 * Athough Piper needs to use her hands to use this power, her heightened emotional state in during the full moon allowed her to use this power without any hand gestures.
 * In the show, Piper uses this power much more often than her Immobilization power, yet in the comics, she uses her other powers more.
 * During the run of the show Piper used this power 242 times.