Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

The case is over, and you lost. If a default judgment was taken against you, and you have a meritorious defense to the lawsuit, you have one shot at getting the judgment set aside; and you must file a motion to set aside the default and default judgment immediately upon learning of the judgment. All other attempted court filings will be ignored. If not losing the case is important to you, consult an attorney at once.

Your are confusing various legal terms. If the other side is merely moving for a default judgment but has not yet gotten one, file an answer immediately and no default can be taken. if a default has been taken, you can first see if you can get the other side to agree to set it aside and if not move to set it aside. You have a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 6 months, to move to set aside a default judgment.

I can't tell from your post whether the clerk has entered your default or not. Once the clerk enters your default, you have no rights to appear in court, either to file responsive pleadings, or even show up at the default hearing and attempt to contradict the plaintiff. Your remedy when in default is to file a motion to set aside the default, and if a default judgment is entered, the corresponding default judgment. The time limits are critical, depending on your grounds. You also have the right to appeal from a default judgment, but that is a rare approach and you had better know what you are doing if you plan on that.